School Photo 1913

The photograph of 1913 is a relatively early photograph of the whole school. Compared with the ranked rows of pupils in a modern school photograph, the informal pose is refreshingly different. A closer look reveals not quite uniform uniform, and evident distinctions between the younger boys in Eton collars and senior boys in suits.

With 98 boys and 8 'Masters' in the photograph, it also tells of a considerably smaller school population - one that can fit against the familiar and largely unchanged background of windows to what is now the Sixth Form Hub.  

But this particular photograph is of special interest because it is named in a way that identifies each boy and Master. Seeing the date and knowing what happened next in world history prompts us to reflect on the faces that look out at us. 

Diligent research has confirmed that 446 Old Breconians served in the First World War, 137 of whom had enlisted by December 1914. Many of those in the photograph left school at the end of their final term to enthusiastically exchange one sort of uniform for another. The longevity of the war meant that most of those who are pictured, including some of the youngest, would serve overseas or at home. Of those present in the photograph, 68 boys and 2 Masters served during 1914-1918.

63 Old Breconians died as a result of the First World War. Twelve of them appear in this photograph.

Left to right circled in the photograph below, they are: 

J G Yendoll (School House 1910-13) aged 24

T Parry (School House 1909-13) aged 22

S E Lewis (Hostel 1911-16) aged 19

C G Boothby (School House 1909-13) aged 21         

F H Best (Day Boy 1904-10) aged 22

J S Robinson (Master 1911-15) aged 

D C Thomas (Hostel 1910-14) aged 20 

F A I Musk (Day Boy 1912-15) aged 20

D H Davies (School House 1912-14) aged 21

F James (School House 1913-15) aged 22

T Akrill Jones (School House 1909-15) aged 19    

D J Thomas (School House 1912-16) aged 19     

In a reminder of the effects of the conflict on the boys themselves, volumes of The Breconian for 1914-1918 include a number of poems written by school fellows to remember those who had been killed or died during the war. One such poem appeared in The Breconian of April 1916, which is dedicated to David Cuthbert Thomas (Hostel 1906-15). A keen cricketer and something of a poet himself, David enlisted just a few weeks after leaving school and was killed in the trenches at Fricourt on 18 March 1916 at the age of 20. The annual D C Thomas Poetry prize is awarded in his memory. 

The author of the poem is unknown. Almost certainly written by one of the boys in the photograph, the poem resonates with heartfelt sorrow. It reminds us that all those in the 1913 photograph would have felt loss in one way or another, including the loss of some of those who stood beside them in the school photograph of 1913. 

D. C. T. 

Since you were here two years have sped,

   But you're remembered still;

Your memory has never fled,

   Not yet it will.

You trod the muddy football-field

   On many a hard-fought day;

'Twas then you learned to scorn to yield

   In grim affray.

We've seen you batting, calm and cool,

  When runs were coming fast;

In a greater game, for Country and for School,

 You fall at last.

Rememb'ring what you were and did,

  To you, who fighting fell,

Breconians, past and present, bid

  A last farewell.