Description
Object description
British civilian head teacher evacuated with school from Portsmouth to Winchester, Hants, GB, 1939-1945
Content description
REEL 1: Background in Cornwall, 1902-1928: family; education; further education at Cambridge. Aspects of period as teacher in GB, 1928-1939: teacher in Middlesbrough, 1928-1932; social conditions; effects of unemployment; attitude to secondary education; 6th form teacher in Portsmouth, 1932-1937; headmaster at Beccles, Suffolk, 1937-1939; story of arrival of evacuees by sea at Lowestoft, 8-9/1939; appointed headmaster of Portsmouth Northern Secondary School, 9/1939; government guidelines for evacuation of schools.
REEL 2 Continues: reaction to political developments in Europe, 1938-1939; further memories of childhood in Bude, Cornwall, during First World War, 1914-1918; memories of outbreak of war, 9/1939; anticipation of air raids; description of activities with Territorial Army Reserve; preparations for evacuation of Portsmouth Northern Secondary School to Winchester, 1939; social background of evacuees. Aspects of period in Winchester, Hants, 1939-1945: role of billeting committee; anxiety among evacuees about relatives; staffing and women teachers.
REEL 3 Continues: further description of preparations for evacuation; administration of hostels; question of sharing school facilities; effects of evacuation on educational standards; story of evacuee shoplifter; attitude to discipline.
REEL 4 Continues: description of duties as headmaster; syllabus; question of discussion of war in classroom; relations with girls' school; method of allocating evacuees to billets; problem of bedwetting and evacuees running away; question of access to secondary education; story of commandos billeted in home.
REEL 5 Continues: living conditions in school and hostels; description of harvest camps for evacuees; church services and civic receptions; preparations in Winchester for D-Day landings, 1944; memories of evacuation from Dunkirk, 5-6/1940; role in notifying evacuees of death of relatives; parents' meetings; bomb damage in Portsmouth; attitude to British victory, 1941; reaction to dismissal of teacher for being conscientious objector.
REEL 6 Continues: attitude to possible invasion of GB, 1940-1941; relations between teachers and pupils; opinion of accommodation for teachers; daily routine and duties; recreational activities and social life; further comments on syllabus; school returned to Portsmouth, 4/1945. Reflections on period of evacuation.