Abingdonian 2020

17 www.abingdon.org.uk Michaelmas Term and the Midlands whilst they were doing their prep in the gym before bedding down on straw palliases until the all- clear sounded. News of the success or otherwise of German attacks was strictly censored, but nothing could stop the boys reporting back to their parents after the night in November 1940 when a German bomber, that had followed the Whitleys returning to RAF Abingdon, dropped its bomb load on the runway: “15 bombs in quick succession. They fairly woke the place – and after the all- clear too.” Not surprisingly, military training occupied much of the boys’ time – most breaks and often three afternoons a week. The boys, whether they belonged to the ATC (Air Training Corps) or the JTC (Junior Training Corps), received training in drill, using a wireless, rifle handling, navigation, morse signalling, map reading, the recognition of aircraft and first aid. Senior members of the JTC formed a platoon of the Home Guard where, according to one member, “it goes through a gruelling course of tactics guaranteed to baffle any Nazi genius in the event of an invasion.” There was another Home Front ‘battlefield’ – food. Rationing was making it extremely difficult to feed the boarders, leading to “an acute crisis,” as one boy told his parents. The crisis was caused by a mother complaining to Miss Grundy, the Headmaster’s sister, who was in charge of housekeeping. The mother’s complaints turned to insults, and Miss Grundy retaliated. Mr Grundy intervened and the mother apologised, stating, “I’m sorry if I’ve offended you”, to which Miss Grundy replied, “I’m not sorry that I’ve offended you.” In response to the Ministry of Agriculture’s encouragement to ‘Dig for Victory’, the School were growing their own vegetables. This, as Mr Grundy told the Governors, was producing: “3 ½ tons of potatoes, over ½ a ton of beetroot, approximately ¼ of a ton each of carrots and parsnips, and over 1 cwt each of turnips and onions.” In addition, Miss Grundy was keeping pigs and chickens. It was a difficult time. Pupil numbers had increased as other schools closed, but there was no expansion in accommodation. Young staff were impossible to get unless they were in some way medically unfit for military service. Many of the masters were therefore forced to stay on beyond retirement age. Grundy himself was over 60. He had been headmaster since before the First World War and the death of his former pupils was in many cases a real grief to him. There is therefore something infinitely moving to read about the day that he donned his full uniform in order to report to every section of the School that Allied Forces had successfully landed in Europe. It was D-Day, 6 June 1944. The end of the war was still over a year away, but this was the beginning of the end. Sarah Wearne