Roll of Honour
Schooling & The Great War, 1914–1919
Barry Blades
- The
- Great
- War
- was
- the
- first
- 'Total
- War';
- a
- war
- in
- which
- human
- and
- material
- resources
- were
- pitched
- into
- a
- life-and-death
- struggle
- on
- a
- colossal
- scale.
- British
- citizens
- fought
- on
- both
- the
- Battle
- Fronts
- and
- on
- the
- Home
- Front,
- on
- the
- killing
- fields
- of
- France
- and
- Flanders
- as
- well
- as
- in
- the
- industrial
- workshops
- of
- 'Blighty'.
- Men,
- women
- and
- children
- all
- played
- their
- part
- in
- an
- unprecedented
- mobilisation
- of
- a
- nation
- at
- war.
- Unlike
- much
- of
- the
- traditional
- literature
- on
- the
- Great
- War,
- with
- its
- understandable
- fascination
- with
- the
- terrible
- experiences
- of
- 'Tommy
- in
- the
- Trenches',
- Roll
- of
- Honour
- shifts
- our
- gaze.
- It
- focuses
- on
- how
- the
- Great
- War
- was
- experienced
- by
- other
- key
- participants,
- namely
- those
- communities
- involved
- in
- 'schooling'
- the
- nation's
- children.
- It
- emphasises
- the
- need
- to
- examine
- the
- 'myriad
- faces
- of
- war',
- rather
- than
- traditional
- stereotypes,
- if
- we
- are
- to
- gain
- a
- deeper
- understanding
- of
- personal
- agency
- and
- decision
- making
- in
- times
- of
- conflict
- and
- upheaval.
- The
- dramatis
- personae
- in
- Roll
- of
- Honour
- include
- Head
- Teachers
- and
- Governors
- charged
- by
- the
- Government
- with
- mobilising
- their
- 'troops';
- school
- masters,
- whose
- enlistment,
- conscription
- or
- conscientious
- objection
- to
- military
- service
- changed
- lives
- and
- career
- paths;
- the
- 'temporary'
- school
- mistresses
- who
- sought
- to
- demonstrate
- their
- 'interchangeability'
- in
- male
- dominated
- institutions;
- the
- school
- alumni
- who
- thought
- of
- school
- whilst
- knee-deep
- in
- mud;
- and
- finally,
- of
- course,
- the
- school
- children
- themselves,
- whose
- 'campaigns'
- added
- vital
- resources
- to
- the
- war
- economy.
- These
- 'myriad
- faces'
- existed
- in
- all
- types
- of
- British
- school,
- from
- the
- elite
- Public
- Schools
- to
- the
- elementary
- schools
- designed
- for
- the
- country's
- poorest
- waifs
- and
- strays.
- This
- powerful
- account
- of
- the
- Great
- War
- will
- be
- of
- interest
- to
- general
- readers
- as
- well
- as
- historians
- of
- military
- campaigns,
- education
- and
- British society.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
