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Corpus Christi College Roll of Honour 1939-1945

Students 

Addis to Brownrigg

ADDIS, Richard Graham (CCC 1935-1939)

Born London, 1 December 1916, 6th son of Sir Charles Steward Addis, KCMG, LLD, economist, and Elizabeth Jane [Melsaac] of Frant, Sussex.

Educated Rugby School 1929-1935.

Scholar; 2 Literae Humaniores 1939; Curator Artis Publicae 1936-1937; Scholars’ ‘Glutton’ 1936-1937.

Married 1941 Lt Gillian [Dearmer], ATS, daughter of Percy Dearmer, DD; 1 son.

Author of A Gay Goodnight 1937 with D M de R Winser (CCC 1933, see below); articles on WWII; piece performed by Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Military service WWII 1939-1944:

Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Signals Branch; Dunkirk (Mentioned in Despatches); Channel Balloon Barrage (Distinguished Service Cross); HMS Mignotte, West Coast of Africa 1941; Mediterranean Fleet 1944, HMS Laforey (sunk by U-boat off Anzio).  Killed in action on 30 March 1944 aboard the HMS Laforey (aged 27).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 5:

[Births] Addis. – On 10th March, 1944, to Gillian, wife of Lt. R.G. Addis, D.S.C., a son.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 5:

[Deaths] Addis. – In March, 1944, presumed to have lost his life in H.M.S. Laforey, Lieutenant Richard Graham Addis, D.S.C., R.N.V.R. (Scholar, 1935-39), aged 27.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 7:

Lieut. D.M.de R. Winser, M.C., R.A.M.C.

Lieut. R.G. Addis, D.S.C., R.N.V.R.

Friends of these two friends will feel that there is some fitness in their being remembered in these few lines together: they were indeed “lovely and pleasant in their lives” and here at least they need not be divided.

                David Winser was by two years the senior, which one is apt to forget in retrospect, but the gift for friendship that was natural to each of them would have brought him quickly into contact with Dick Addis even in a less generally sociable College than Corpus. Few undergraduates, of course, can achieve such a historic “double” as Winser’s winning of the Newdigate and his stroking of a victorious University Eight in the same term, but Addis had the gifts appropriate to the role of his fidus Achates. They were alike enough in their physical and mental make-up to excel and delight in the same kind of activities, to explore together the pleasures of good reading and writing (Winser’s first novel, published in his Greats’ year, contained an entire chapter contributed by Addis), to enjoy good art, good music and good food, the motion of a racing eight on the Isis or a canoe on the Danube, and to pass on the infection of their own gaiety and spirit.

                In the War which claimed them and their generation it was inevitable that each should play a distinguished part. The details of Winser’s are set out below: to Addis in the R.N.V.R. fell no small share of the danger and strain of the men in the little ships. There included the Dunkirk operation, and a long period of the duty of ensuring a safe transit for shipping round the justly-named “Hell Corner”. He was characteristically reticent when I saw him on leave after both these phases, but he had earned the D.S.C., and had actually contrived to spend some of his lonelier watches on the bridge composing a violin sonata. (This was given a beautiful performance at Rugby by Alfred de Reyghere in a concert of music by Rugbeian composers, to which unhappily Addis could not come himself).

                The College will remember them both with pride and affection.

ALLEN, John Percival (CCC 1935-1939)

Born Esher, Surrey, 19 April 1916, 1st son of John Carlyle Allen, author.

Educated The County School, Whitby, Yorkshire.

2 French 1938; BA 1938; Diploma in Education 1939.

Military service WWII:

Field Security Police, Northern Ireland. Died on active service on 10 January 1942 (aged 26).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXV, No. 5:                

John Allen died on January 10th as the result of a motorcycle accident in Northern Ireland, while serving in the Field-Security Police.

He came to Corpus in October 1935 and very soon impressed his contemporaries with his vitality and enthusiasm. He read Modern Languages and took a second in 1938. He also took a diploma in Education in 1939.

He was a keen player of games and was an invaluable member of the Corpus Rugger XV.

He was kind and friendly to all, such things as envy and uncharitableness being unknown to him. He was a delightful companion and his enjoyment of life was infectious.

In many things he was a man of determined views but he never became unduly dogmatic and always understood other points of view.

His death will cause sorrow to many people and will make their lives poorer than they were.

ANGOLD, John Penrose (CCC 1927-1931)

Born Highams Park, Essex, 6 April 1909, 1st son of Herbert Edward Angold, engineer, of Bowdon, Cheshire.

Educated Altrincham.

Scholar; 2 Classics Moderations 1929; 3 Literae Humaniores 1931; BA 1933.

Assistant Master, Steyning Grammar School 1931; articles 1933, solicitor 1936.

Married Katherine Rosemary Gibbs [Odhams]; 1 son, Michael John Angold (CCC 1958).

Author of Collected Poems, 1952; Nyx Apocalyptike, 1933.

Military service WWII 1939-1943:

Flying Officer, Royal Air Force. Died on active service on 31 December 1943 (aged 34).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 5:

Angold. – In December, 1943, on active service, Pilot Officer John Penrose Angold, B.A., Scholar, 1927-31.

ANGUS, William (CCC 1942-1943)

Born Carluke, Lanarkshire, 25 February 1924, 3rd son of William Angus, VC, gear supervisor, of Hayes, Middlesex.

Educated Southall County School.

RAF Probationer; Aeronautics alternative course – Philos Exam 1943; no Oxford University degree; Oxford University Athletics Blue 1943.

Military service WWII:

Flying Officer, Royal Air Force; Coastal Command (Cyprus); Middle East. Killed in action on 30 May 1943 (aged 19).

ARMSTRONG, Richard George de Ligny (CCC 1937-1940)

Born Richmond, Surrey, 3 January 1920, only son of Col Bertie Harold Oliver Armstrong of Quebec.

Educated Cranleigh School.

Scholar; 1 Classics Moderations 1939; exempt from further exam by War Decree, but no degree taken.

Military service WWII 1940-1941:

2nd Lieutenant, The Hampshire Regiment; 1941 Malaya.  Killed in action at Perak, Malaya, on 21 December 1941 (aged 21).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVII, No. 2:

Armstrong. – On 21st December, 1941, missing, believed killed in Perak, Malaya, 2nd Lieutenant Richard George De Ligny Armstrong, The Hampshire Regiment, Scholar 1937-39.

ASTELL-BURT, Henry (CCC 1935-1938)

Born Chorley Wood, Middlesex, 2 August 1916, 1st son of Henry John Astell-Burt, barrister-at-law, of Putney SW15.

Educated at home and Eton College.

Scholar; 2 Mathematics 1938; BA 1938.

Ministry of Mines 1940.

Military service WWII:

Pilot-Officer, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 7 Squadron Bomber Command (Navigator). Killed in action on 14 August 1942 (aged 26).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 1:

Astell-Burt. In August, 1942, Pilot-Officer Henry Astell-Burt, previously reported missing, now believed killed (Scholar 1935-8).

BARMBY, James(CCC 1924-1927)

Born Radley College, Berkshire, 20 May 1906, only son of Francis James Barmby, Sub-Warden of Radley College, of Oxford.

Educated Radley College 1919-1924.

3 Classics Moderations 1926; Greek philosophy and history, Greek and Roman history, Latin philosophy and history 1927; Secretary, Association Football Club 1925-1926, Captain 1926-1927; Secretary, Cricket 1926, Captain 1927.

Nigerian Administration Service, Colonial Office 1927-1940, Onitsha Province, Lagos Secretariat, London.

Married 1939 Mary Joy daughter of Walter Strange; 2 sons, including Robert James Barmby (CCC 1961).

Military service WWII 1940-1944:

Brigade Major, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry; 1943 North Africa; 1944 Italy. Killed in action in Italy on 19 January 1944 (aged 37).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 5:

Barmby. – In January, 1944, killed in action, Major James Barmby (Commoner, 1924-27), aged 37.

BEAUMONT-EDMONDS, William Graham (CCC 1937-1939)

Born London, 2 August 1918, 1st son of Charles William Frederick Beaumont-Edmonds of London SW16. 

Educated Marlborough College, Wiltshire 1932-1937.

3 Classics Moderations 1939; no further exam.

Military service WWII 1939-1941:

2nd Lieutenant, 15th Battalion The Queen’s Royal Regiment.  Died on active service on 16 January 1941, as result of an accident (aged 22).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXV, No. 2:

W.G. Beaumont-Edmonds (Commoner 1937-9) died on 16th January 1941, as the result of an accident while on active service. After being five years at Marlborough, he came up to Corpus in 1937. War broke out while he was in the middle of his University career. He volunteered for service at once, and after being sent to the 164th O.C.T.U., he was gazetted as 2nd Lieutenant in The Queen’s Royal Regiment. His qualities were the more appreciated the better he was known. Under a quiet exterior were the right ideals, a steady sense of duty and a growing strength of character. The country has lost a good citizen, of the type that does his work and uses his talents and opportunities in the station of life which he fills.

BELL, John Lawrence (CCC 1936-1939)

Born Shanghai, 4th son of Alexander Dunlop Bell, shipping merchant.

Educated Edinburgh Academy 1925-1936.

Charles Oldham Scholar 1936-1939; Haigh Prize 1937; 2 Classics Moderations 1938; War Degree; BA 1942.

Military service WWII 1939-1944:

Lieutenant, Durham Light Infantry [according to Biographical Register]; Lieutenant, Somerset Light Infantry [according to War Service].  Died of wounds on 19 June 1944 (aged 25).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 7:

Bell. – In June, 1944, of wounds received in action, Lieutenant John Lawrence Bell, B.A., Durham Light Infantry, Scholar 1936-39, aged 25.

BLAIR, James Michael (CCC 1940-1941)

Born Darjeeling, Bengal, India, 2 August 1922, only son of James Richard Blair, ICS, of Calcutta.

Educated Edinburgh Academy 1928-1940.

Scholar; short course 1 Classics Moderations 1941; Captain, Rugby and Squash; President, Owlets 1941; editor Pelican Record; Oxford University Rugby Blue 1940, Secretary and Acting Captain 1941.

Military service WWII 1941-1944:

Lieutenant, Reconnaissance Regiment 1940-1941; 1944 Normandy. Killed in action on 16 July 1944 (aged 21).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Michael Blair was at the College for only four terms, but in his unostentatious, likeable way he made a considerable mark. He came up from Edinburgh Academy in 1940 with a good reputation as a Classical Scholar and a scrum half. On his first day in Oxford the captain of the College XV watched him run across the quad and remarked “That’s a scrum half”. He collected a sound First in Mods., and played three times for the University against Cambridge, being Secretary the third time; later he played twice for Scotland in Services Internationals. He was also an editor of the Pelican Record. His quiet, dogged methods served him well in everything he took up, and he made a good officer. With all these merits he combined a real modesty which made him fit excellently into the ordinary run of College life; we have lost a good friend, and one of our best men.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Blair. – In July, 1944, died of wounds in Normandy, Lieutenant James Michael Blair, Reconnaissance Regiment (Scholar 1940-41), aged 22.

BOURDILLON, Bernard Godwin (CCC 1929-1933)

Born Tundiani, India, 10 August 1910, 1st son of Bernard Henry Bourdillon, Chief Secretary, Ceylon, and Violet Grace [Billinghurst] of Colombo.

Educated Rugby School 1924-1929.

2 Classics Moderations 1931; 2 Philosophy, Politics and Economics 1933; BA 1933. President, JCR 1932; President, Owlets 1932; President, Wasps 1932-1933. 

Colonial Service 1933; Nigeria 1933-1943; Palestine 1943-1946, Assistant Chief Secretary 1945-1946.

Married 1942 Joy Maluena daughter of Colonel Norman Bainbridge; 1 daughter.

Killed on 22 July 1946, in the bombing of the King David Hotel, Jerusalem (aged 35). Bourdillon was omitted from the War Service.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVII, No. 4:

Bourdillon. – On 22nd July, 1946, at Jerusalem Bernard Godwin Bourdillon, B.A., Colonial Civil Service, Commoner 1929-33, aged 35.

BRADSHAW, Arthur Balfour (CCC 1942)

Born Lisburn, Co Down, 4 April 1923, only son of the Revd John Balfour Bradshaw of Belfast.

Educated Campbell College, Belfast 1935-1941.

Royal Signals Probationer; Electromagnetics and High Frequency Electrical Oscillations Special Exam 1942; no Oxford University degree.

Military service WWII 1941-1944:

2nd Lieutenant, Royal Signals.  Died on active service on 14 July 1944 (aged 21).  Bradshaw has been omitted from the college War Memorial, and is also missing from the War Service.

BROOKE, Henry Alan MC (CCC 1941)

Born Colebrook, Co Fermanagh, 29 October 1923, 3rd son of Sir Basil Stanlake Brooke, Bt, Privy Councillor (Northern Ireland), CBE, MC, MP (Unionist), Northern Ireland Minister of Commerce (subsequently 1st Viscount Brooksborough and Prime Minister of Northern Ireland), and Cynthia Mary [Sergison] of Colebrooke.

Educated by private tuition; Winchester College 1937-1939.

Law Moderations 1941.

Military service WWII 1942-1945:

Lieutenant, Royal Armoured Corps; Italy, North Africa; wounded and Military Cross 1944. Killed in action near Ravenna on 17 April 1945 (aged 21)

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 7:

Brooke. – In April, 1945, in action in Italy, Lt. Henry Alan Brooke, M.C., R.A.C., Commoner 1940-41. 

BROWNRIGG, John Herbert Leslie (CCC 1927-1931)

Born Oxford, 6 February 1909, 1st son of Charles Edward Brownrigg, schoolmaster, and Valerie [Akerman] of Magdalen College School, Oxford.

Educated Winchester College 1922-1927.

2 Classics Moderations 1929; 2 Modern History 1931; BA 1931. Captain, Association Football Club 1929-1930; Captain, Cricket 1930; President, Owlets 1930; President, Oldham Society 1931.

Burma Oil Company 1931-1939, Chittagong Branch 1935, Ahyab Branch 1936.

Military service WWII 1939-1944:

Major, 1st Battalion The Loyal Regiment; 1943-1944 North Africa, Italy.  Killed in action on 14 February 1944 (aged 35).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 5:

Brownrigg. – In February, 1944, on active service, Major John Herbert Leslie Brownrigg, B.A. (Commoner, 1927-30).

Carden to Fitze

CARDEN, Percy Theodore MC (CCC 1903-1908)

Born Surbiton, Surrey, 14 December 1887, 7th son of Maj-Gen G Carden, deceased; husband of Marjorie Ruth (nee Scott), of Maida Hill, London..

Educated Wellington College 1899-1903.

Pass Classics Moderations 1904; 2 Jurisprudence 1906; BA 1906; 2 BCL 1908; MA and BCL 1910.

Called to Bar, Inner Temple 1908; Charity Commission 1921.

Military service WWI 1914-1918: Public Schools Battalion; Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force, Captain and Flight Commander; Military Cross 1918.

Married 1930 Marjorie daughter of Lt-Col Hopton Scott.

Author of The Murder of Edwin Drood…An Attempted Solution of the Mystery.

Military service WWII:

Flight-Lieutenant, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Died on active service on 12 February 1942 (aged 54).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 1:

Carden. In February, 1942, on active service, Flight-Lieutenant Percy T. Carden, M.C. (Commoner 1903-6). 

CHITTENDEN, Hugh John Robert (CCC 1937-1939)

Born Oxford, 22 July 1918, 1st son of Hugh Faithful Chittenden, schoolteacher, and Barbara May [Grundy] of Seaford, Sussex; grandson of George Beardoe Grundy, CCC Fellow 1903-1931.

Educated Sherborne School, Dorset, 1932-1937.

No Oxford University exams.

Military service WWII 1939-1942:

Provost Sergeant, East African Corps of Military Police. Died on active service at Mombasa on 30 October 1942 (aged 24).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 1:

Chittenden. In October, 1942, on active service. Sergeant H.J.R. Chittenden, East African Corps of Military Police (Commoner 1937-9). 

CLARK, Michael Cyril (CCC 1942-1943)

Born London, 11 November 1924, only son of Albert Cyril Clark, newspaper business manager, of Croydon, Surrey.

Educated Whitgift School, Croydon.

Scholar; 2 Classics Moderations 1943; Editor, Pelican Record.

Military service WWII 1943-1944:

Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Killed in action on 31 October [according to War Service],1 November 1944 [according to Biographical Register] (aged 19).

Wooden shield with college coat of arms given to Corpus Christi College in Clark's memory (hangs above High Table in Hall).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Michael Clark came up from Whitgift in October, 1942, and was with us a year. As an antiquary he started the present musical fashions and disclosed one of Staircase XI’s painted beams on which he hoped Dr. Milne would one day pronounce. As an artist he was the first Corpus illuminator to win international recognition with a Runic address to the King of Norway, its border in the style of Urnes. Despite his liveliness, his discretion made him a valued editor of the Record. In kinder days, his scholarship that had already “ploughed his front with many a deep remark” must have won him respect: the more so as he considered it our highest aim to understand and respect tradition. Yet when he left Oxford with a merry echo of Mr. Escot’s last words, it was hard to think of him as ripe for death at sea in a modern war, or as leaving us for more than a spell of most noble and famous travelling aboard H.M.S. Hippogriff. He is rightly buried at Oxford, and his country must pardon us for remembering him best as a lover, delightfully impenitent, of the most fugitive and cloistered virtues.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Clark. – On 31st October, 1944, in action at sea, Sub-Lieutenant Michael Cyril Clark, R.N.V.R. (Scholar, 1942-43), aged 19. 

CLARKE, Brian Hamilton (CCC 1942-1943)

Born Manchester, 28 February 1924, 2nd son of William James Clarke, printer, of Nottingham.

Educated Mount St Mary’s College.

Royal Air Force Probationer; Aeronautics alternative course – Philos Exam 1943; no Oxford University degree.

Military service WWII 1943-1945:

Flight-Lieutenant, Royal Air Force. Killed in action on 31 August 1945 (aged 21). 

CORNES, Noel Julian (CCC 1931-1934)

Born Midnapur, India, 22 December 1912, 2nd son of Julian Cornes, businessman (ICS retired), and Lilian Amy [Marshall] of Harlow, Essex.

Educated Clifton College, Bristol 1926-1931.

Scholar; 3 Modern History 1934; BA 1934.

Businessman in family firm, Cornes & Co, Japan.

Married 1935 Augusta Amelia [Albany].

Military service WWII 1940-1942:

Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Fleet Air Arm; 1940-1941 Hong Kong, UK. Died on active service at Scapa Flow on 8 July 1942 (aged 29).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 1:

Cornes. In July, 1942, on active service, Lieutenant Noel J. Cornes, R.N.V.R. (Fleet Air Arm), (Scholar 1931-4). 

CROSSMAN, Thomas Edward Stafford (CCC 1936-1939)

Born Buckhurst Hill, Essex, 19 October 1917, 3rd son of the Hon Mr Justice Charles Stafford Crossman and Helen Elizabeth [Howard] of Buckhurst Hill.

Educated Winchester College 1931-1936.

Greek philosophy and history 1936; 2 Literae Humaniores 1939; BA 1939; Recorder, JCR 1938; Secretary, Rugby 1937-1938, Captain 1938-1939; editor Pelican Record.

Military service WWII 1939-1940:

Pilot Officer, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 1939, Flying Officer Instructor 1940. Died on active service on 31 May 1940 (aged 22).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXIV, No. 6:

Pilot Officer T.E.S. Crossman

The news of Tom Crossman’s death in a flying accident will bring sadness to many people. For he was full of vitality, yet sensitive and even-tempered; to be with him was, therefore, always a pleasure, whether at a Pelican Record dinner, or in his rooms of an evening, or indeed anywhere, at any time. His friends will remember, too, the diversity of his interests and capabilities; his considerable academic ability, his wide knowledge of dance music, the terror he inspired in his opponents on the football field, and in themselves by his driving of his ancient Alvis (the engine of which he tended with such loving care), the sudden revelation of his powers as a cook. He was a person of great charm and great courage, and we are poorer for the loss of him.

DOPPLER, Joseph (CCC 1939-1940)

Born Bratislava, Austria-Hungary, 3 July 1910, only son of Egon Doppler, director, of Bratislava, Czecho-Slovakia.

DPh, German University in Prague.

Advanced Student, Refugee Scholar; DPhil student (political philos – uncompleted).

Military service WWII 1940-1944:

Private, Czech Army. Killed in action near Dunkirk on 15 October 1944 (aged 34).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Doppler. – On 15th October, 1944, near Dunkirk, Joseph Doppler, D.Phil, Prague University, Allied Forces (Commoner 1939-40), aged 30. 

EVERS, (William) Richard (CCC 1928-1932)

Born Rugby, 13 November 1909, 2nd son of Claud Pilkington Evers, Rugby School teacher, of Rugby.

Educated Rugby School 1923-1928.

Charles Oldham Scholar; Haigh Prize 1929; 2 Classics Moderations 1930; 2 Literae Humaniores 1932; BA 1933; President, JCR 1931; President, Wasps 1932; Captain, Cricket 1932; Captain, Hockey 1930-1931, 1931-1932; editor Pelican Record.

Assistant Master, Fettes College, Edinburgh 1932-1941, Housemaster 1938-1941; Captain, Scotland Hockey XI.

Married 1940 Anne [Brint]; 1 son.

Military service WWII 1941-1943:

Royal Artillery, 2nd Lieutenant Derbyshire Yeomanry; 1942-1943 Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Tank Regiment, North Africa.  Killed in action in Tunisia on 14 March 1943 (aged 33).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 3:

Dick Evers was killed by a mine in North Africa at the beginning of the Allied drive which was to end in the capture of Tunis, and it was a bitter underlining of his abrupt fate that his unit was eventually the first to enter the town in triumph. He had had a short army life, by the standards of this war; that he had been able to adapt himself so successfully to work so alien to his temperament is a striking sign of his purposefulness and resolve. Trained first in the R.A. Signals, he eventually won his commission in the R.A.C., was drafted almost immediately to Africa, and met his end.

                Educated at the Dragon School, at Rugby and Corpus, he was blessed with an all-round ability in work and games, allied to a charm of manner and a gift of companionship which it is given to few to possess. At Oxford his very versatility probably robbed him of the highest honours; but his scholarship was first-rate, and his games took him into the ranks of Occasionals and Authentics. After he came down, his games if anything, improved; so much so that he captained Scotland at Hockey in one season. This was while he was a master at Fettes College, where he spent his time from 1932 until he was called up. His teaching was admirable – lucid, patient, and never lacking that effort on his own part which is the sign of a teacher whose heart is in his work. He was always ready to lend a hand in any activity which made up the life of the School, and he won from boys a respect and an affection which will long keep his memory alive. For three years from 1938 he was a Housemaster in College, a post which he used only to extend his power to stimulate boys’ interests and enthusiasms. In 1940 he was married, and found in this and in the birth of a son a happiness which might have led him to even higher achievements.

                Memories of Dick Evers will always be memories of a charm and a vivacity which made his company a never-failing delight; memories of a modesty which belittled remarkable gifts; memories of entertainment on instruments as different as the oboe and the ukulele, of cheerful cricket tours made successful by his enjoyment of them, of a ready sympathy to which no-one appealed in vain. This war has taken away much that made the years of our youth happy and full of meaning; in Dick Evers it has taken away an epitome of it all.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 3:

Evers. In March, 1943, in action in North Africa, 2nd Lt. William Richard Evers, B.A., R.A.C. (Scholar, 1928-32), aged 33. 

FITZE, Kenneth Stewart Samuel (CCC 1942-1943)

Born Indore, India, 3 January 1924, only son of Sir Kenneth Fitze, ICS, and Helena [Bairsto] of Redhill, Surrey.

Educated Marlborough College, Wiltshire 1937-1942.

2 Classics Moderations 1943; Editor Pelican Record.

Military service WWII 1943-1945:

Lieutenant, 19 King George V’s Own Lancers; 1945 Malaya. Died on active service on 12 December 1945 (aged 21).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVII, No. 2:

Fitze. – On 12th December, 1945, in Malaya, Lieutenant Kenneth Stewart Samuel Fitze, 19 K.G.V.O. Lancers, Commoner 1942.

Gardiner to Marmorstein

GARDINER, Edward Ambrose Norman (CCC 1933-1936)

Born Epsom, 23 February 1904, 4th son of Edward Norman Gardiner, deceased, schoolmaster.  Educated Royal Naval College, Osborne, Greenwich, Dartmouth.

Service Student; 2 Mathematics Moderations 1934; 2 Physics 1936; BA 1936; Captain, Swimming 1934-1935; Water Polo 1934-1935.

Assistant, Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough 1937.

Military service WWII:

Lieutenant-Commander Royal Navy; 1940-1942 HMS Hermes.  Killed in action on Hermes on 9 April 1942 (aged 38).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXV, No. 6:

Lieut. Commander E.A.N. Gardiner, who was killed in the loss of H.M.S. Hermes, in April 1942, was a Commoner of the College from 1933-36. He came up in order to study mathematics and obtained his B.A. At first he was active on the river, rowing '7' in the 1934 Torpid in a typically naval style, contributing without ostentation to the pace of the crew. Later on he contented himself with enjoying Oxford, succeeding better than the ambitious and over-studious. Older than most of his contemporaries, he preserved more detachment and tranquillity than they, never losing his essentia [essential] tolerance and kindness. We felt then that he was undecided whether or not to return to the navy, since those years were years of peace. The war left him no doubt, and his death has emphasised all too clearly the willingness for sacrifice and service that had been his all along.

GRANT, John Austin Lindsay (CCC 1941-1942)

Born Sidcup, Kent, 29 October 1923, 1st son of Reginald Lindsay Grant, research chemist, of Sidcup.

Educated City of London School.

Royal Air Force Probationer; no Oxford University degree.

Military service WWII 1942-1943:

Sergeant Pilot, Royal Air Force; 1942-1943 Coastal Command, Pacific and Atlantic. Killed in action on 3 September 1943 (aged 19). 

HAILEY, The Hon Allen Balzano (CCC 1918)

Born Lahore, India, 9 April 1900, only son of William Malcolm Hailey, CIE, Chief Commander of Delhi, and Andreina [Balsani] of Delhi.

Educated Rugby School 1914-1916.

Failed eye test for Indian Army 1917.

No Oxford University exams; summoned to India by father 1919.

Bird & Co., Mines Survey Branch, Calcutta.

Military service WWII:

Lieutenant, Pioneer Corps; 1942-1943 Iraq. Died on active service on 1 February 1943 (aged 42).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 2:

Hailey. – In February, 1943, on active service in the Middle East, Lieutenant the Hon. Alan [Allen] Balzano Hailey, Pioneer Corps (Commoner, 1918), aged 43 [42]. 

HARDING, Valentine(CCC 1925-1927)

Born London, 22 June 1905, only son of George Valentine Harding of Pangbourne, Berkshire.

Educated Rugby School 1919-1923.

No Oxford University Exams.

Architectural Association School 1927-1931; Associate, Royal Institute of British Architects; founded Tecton Partnership, progressive concrete designs, 1931; Original Member, Mars Group.

Married Cicely.

Military service WWII:

2nd Lieutenant, Royal Engineers 7th Field Coy; 1939-1940 France, Belgium.  Killed in action in Flanders on 27 May 1940 (aged 34).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXV, No. 1:

A correspondent writes to the Times:-

By the death of Second Lieutenant Valentine Harding, R.E., recorded last week, we have lost an architect of distinction and a loveable personality. Born in 1905, he went from Rugby and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, to the Architectural Association School in 1927. During his last year there in 1931, he formed with six others the partnership of Tecton, which soon won recognition for its progressive and imaginative work. His own house built a few years later at Farnham Common is a pioneer design in reinforced concrete, and expresses eloquently the simplicity and humanity of his architecture. His feeling for modern design combined with his honesty of purpose to give this work a peculiarly English quality, which may one day be recognised as one of the first genuine signs of a new vernacular architecture. He was an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects and an original member of the Mars Group. He was killed in action at the end of May, leading his section of Royal Engineers in a counter-attack in Flanders.

HIGSON, Kenneth Hesketh (CCC 1930-1934)

Born Stowmarket, Suffolk, 29 May 1911, only son of the Revd Arthur Hesketh Higson of Godalming, Surrey.

Educated Bradfield College, Berkshire 1925-1930.

3 Classics Moderations 1932; 2 Jurisprudence 1934; BA 1934.

Articled Clerk 1934; admitted as Solicitor 1938; Treasury Solicitors Office.

Married 1939 Jean daughter of E R Eddison, CB, CMG; 1 daughter.

Military service WWII 1939-1940:

Flying Officer, Royal Air Force No. 10 Squadron Bomber Command; 1940 raids over Germany and Italy. Killed in action on 16 August 1940 (aged 29); recommended for posthumous VC.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXV, No. 1:

No one who knew Kenneth can but feel that a great character has given his life for the liberty of his country. He was educated at Bradfield College, becoming an exceedingly popular prefect at the House on the Hill and a keen naturalist. Debarred from taking strenuous exercise on medical grounds, he spent many of his half holidays studying wild life, and the photographs he took in the course of this showed that he must have had most remarkable patience and skill. It was said that if anyone wished to see the Bradfield Natural History exhibition when it was not on show, he had only to go to Kenneth’s study.

                He came to Corpus in October 1930 and studied for Law, taking a Second in 1934. But life meant too much to him for him to confine his activities to working. Everything came as grist to his mill, and he embodied the best of it in his character. Whilst at College, he joined the O.U.A.S. and many were the tales he told of his experiences in that squadron, none of them creditable to himself. Never have I known him to admit that he had anything good to say for himself.

                On leaving Corpus he was articled to a solicitor and finished his examinations in 1938, at the end of which year he married. His wife, together with a daughter born just after his death, survives him.

                Of some people it may be said that they possess an aura of cheerfulness, infecting all those around them with it, and this attribute Kenneth most certainly had. No one can say what he might have done had been given the opportunity, but I, for one, feel the world is much the poorer for the loss of a character like his – that of a true laughing philosopher.

                The following extract is from a letter received from the American Embassy in Rome.

                Consul General reports that during an air raid [the place and date are not for publication], one of the British planes was hit by a shell from the anti-aircraft guns and crashed. Of the five occupants four escaped unhurt, the fifth was killed. Commander of area furnished the following information:

                “The plane apparently caught fire. Pilot Higson holding the stick at the time and realising that the position was desperate, called to the crew that they were free to bail out and that he would hold the plane steady and would crash with it, which he did.”

                The pilot was given full military funeral by the enemy. The four survivors were permitted to attend the ceremony.

IRVINE, Nigel Colquhoun (CCC 1936-1939)

Born St Andrews, 26 September 1914, only son of Sir James Colquhoun Irvine, Principal of St Andrews University, and Mabel Violet [Williams] of St Andrews.

Educated Stowe School, Buckinghamshire; St Andrews University 1932-1936, 2 Chemistry.

2 Jurisprudence 1939.

Married 1943 Mary Elise Cecelia [Banister], WRNS, daughter of Captain Gerald Banister, RN.

Military service WWII 1939-1944:

Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve; 1941-1943 Radar Officer, HMS Devonshire, Arctic Patrol, Convoy Russia; HMS Nigeria, 1943 South Atlantic, 1944 Indian Ocean.  Died on 26 May 1944 (aged 29), drowned in Ceylon.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 5:

Irvine. – In May, 1944, in Ceylon, Lieutenant Nigel Colquhoun Irvine, R.N.V.R., Commoner, 1936-9.

JUBB, Brian McMahon (CCC 1940-1941)

Born London, 19 June 1921, 2nd son of Edwin Charles Jubb, OBE, Director of Navy Contracts, Admiralty, of Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire.

Educated Rugby School 1935-1940.

No Oxford University exams.

Military service WWII 1941-1943:

Pilot Officer, Royal Air Force. Killed in action on 26 May 1943 (aged 21).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 4:

We regret to say that Lieut. Michael C. Marmorstein, Royal Ulster Rifles, and Pilot Officer Brian McC. Jubb, R.A.F., have been reported missing.

LEAKE, Stephen Philip Martin (CCC 1925-1928)

Born Dulwich, London, 9 May 1906, 2nd son of William Ralph Martin Leake, schoolmaster, of Dulwich SE21.

Educated Dulwich College 1919-1925.

Scholar; Pass Classics Moderations 1926; 2 Modern History 1928; BA 1929; Secretary, Sundial Society 1926.

Schoolteacher, Dulwich Preparatory School 1928.

Military service WWII:

Major, Intelligence Corps; 1942-1944 Durban, Cape Town, Madagascar, Cairo, Balkans. Killed in action on 7 June 1944 (aged 38).  Buried in Sheper, South Albania in the Greek Orthodox Churchyard.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Martin Leake. – In June, 1944, in action, Major Stephen Philip Martin Leake, B.A., Intelligence Corps (Scholar 1925-29), aged 38.

MARMORSTEIN, Michael Cecil (CCC 1935-1939)

Born London, 9 November 1916, 3rf son of Arthur Marmorstein, theology lecturer, Jews’ College, London, and Antonia Columbia [Gaster] of Hampstead, London NW6. 

Educated St Paul’s School 1929-1935, London.

Scholar; 2 Modern History 1939; Tortoise Keeper 1936-1937.

Military service WWII 1939-1943:

2nd Lieutenant, Royal Ulster Rifles; attached to London Irish Rifles.  Killed in action at San Salvo, Italy, on 28 October 1943 (aged 26).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 4:

We regret to say that Lieut. Michael C. Marmorstein, Royal Ulster Rifles, and Pilot Officer Brian McC. Jubb, R.A.F., have been reported missing.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVIII, No. 1:

Michael Cecil Marmorstein, 1935-39.

M.C. Marmorstein came up with an Open Scholarship from St. Paul’s and read Honour Mods. and History. He spent several vacations travelling in Central and Eastern Europe. He joined up in 1939 and later went to Italy. He was reported missing in the first abortive attack on San Salvo, on October 28th, 1943, while he was leading his platoon in an attack on an enemy post. His C.O. wrote: – “Everything he did was always first class and his Company Commander spoke very highly of him. In a previous attack he had led his men very gallantly and with great dash. He was a fine officer and the Regiment is the worse off without him.” – From The Pauline, May, 1947.

                The news of fresh outrages by extremists in Palestine is inclined to send me into unreasonable, almost Hitlerian tantrums against the whole of Jewry. When this happens, I think of Michael Marmorstein and my sense of proportion is restored by the memory of his very human charm and by the recollection of the way his humour gurgled like a mountain spring. So all the good in Stein’s character is not interred in his bones, which rest in Italy, where he died fighting.

                I have expressed my memories of him thus personally, but similar memories will be shared and his death mourned by many members of the immediately pre-war generation of “Corpuscles”, especially, perhaps by those who went on the College cricket tours of 1937 and 1938.

                As a cricketer, Stein was not to be dismayed by such physical handicaps as he possessed. Being very short-sighted, he was not best equipped as a batsman. It was therefore his habit, on arrival at the wicket, to adopt the offensive at once by sturdily demanding “middle and off” from the umpire. This radical departure from convention usually left the bowler, as well as the umpire, quite visibly shaken. Whereupon Stein, peering uncertainly down the wicket, added to the general mortification by demonstrating the manifold uses of the outer edges of the bat.   

                As a bowler, his innocent guile was often effective when all other bowling resources had failed.

                It was Stein’s huge enjoyment of it all – which he had the power of imparting to others – that added so greatly to the pleasure of life.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVIII, No. 1:

Marmorstein. – Reported missing, now known to have been killed on October 28th, 1943, at San Salvo, Italy, Lieutenant Michael Cecil Marmorstein, B.A., Royal Ulster Rifles, Scholar 1935-39.

Neale to Rentoul

NEALE, Major Gordon Brook (CCC 1927-1930)

Born Sheikh Budin, North-West Frontier Province, India, 10 July 1909, 1st son of Walter Gordon Neale, Political Agent, Bhopal, and Grace Margaret [Fass] of Bhopal.

Educated Wellington College, Berkshire 1923-1927.

4 Modern History 1930.

Army; attached to Scottish Greys; 20th Lancers, Indian Army; 1 year Indian Foreign and Political Service; Scinde Horse, Indian Armoured Corps, North-West Frontier Province 1939; Major.

Married 1938 Joan Mary Rose daughter of Lt-Col J L Weir; 2 sons, including Christopher Gordon Neale (CCC 1960).

Military service WWII:

Died on active service in a motor accident on 11 November 1942 (aged 33).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 2:

Neale. – In November, 1942, on active service, Major Gordon Brock [Brook] Neale, Indian Army (Commoner, 1927-30), aged 34 [33].

PADDISON, Geoffrey Michael (CCC 1933-1937)

Born Roehampton, Surrey, 16 August 1914, 2nd son of Sir George Frederick Paddison, KBE, deceased, ICS, of Guildford.

Educated Rugby School 1928-1933.

Scholar; 1 Classics Moderations 1935; 2 Literae Humaniores 1937; BA 1937.

Student Grenoble University 1937; Master, Hilton College, Natal 1938.

Military service WWII 1940-1941:

Private, 1st Royal Natak Carabineers; 1940-1941 Somaliland, Abyssinia; 1941 transferred to Intelligence Department, Egypt, Libya.  Killed in action 30 November [according to Biographical Register] on 1 December 1941 [according to War Service] (aged 27).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXV, No. 5:

Geoffrey Paddison came up to Corpus from Rugby in 1933 with a classical scholarship. He at once threw all his talents into the varied activities of pre-war Oxford with energy and enthusiasm. He was a good classical scholar, and took a first in Mods.; his industry and endurance in long hours of work amazed his contemporaries; and he did not despise the practice of attending lectures. He was keenly interested in music, being a proficient pianist and oboe-player; he represented the College regularly at most games, and conspicuously at Cricket. But though tirelessly occupied with all the good things of life, he was never so much concerned with these as to forget that people are more important than things. No-one among his contemporaries was more affectionate, good-tempered, or sincere; never did he do or say anything to upset even the most touchy of his friends. He was regularly to be seen in his place in the College Chapel, and in the practice of religion he was as sincere as he was modest.

                On going down in 1937, he spent some time in France, and later went out to S. Africa, to teach at Hilton College, Natal. Until Italy entered the war, he agreed to remain at his job; but then he joined up as a private in the First Royal Natal Carbineers [Carabineers]. He came through the Abyssinian campaign more impressed with the scenery (if we may judge by a letter written shortly before his death) than with the fighting spirit of the Italians. After a dull period of waiting in the desert, he was engaged in the second battle for Cyrenaica, and in this he was killed, while navigating two companies through the desert, in a night action which enabled a hard-pressed New Zealand division to withdraw without any casualties.

                To his mother we extend our deepest sympathy; we can respectfully say that her loss is ours too, and that we share her pride in the memory of the life which hers son lived, and which he gave in the service of his country.

PUGH, Michael John (CCC 1937-1938)

Born Darjeeling, India, 29 September 1918, 4th son of Col Archibald John Pugh, OBE, deceased, lawyer, and Marian Fraser [Arundel] of Whitchurch, Kent.

Educated Charterhouse, Surrey 1932-1937.

1st public examination Latin, Greek, French and Latin, Greek prose 1938; no further exams; Oxford University Boxing Blue.

Military service WWII 1939-1944:

Captain, Royal Artillery. Killed in action in Anzio, Italy, on 3 June 1944 (aged 25).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Pugh. – In June, 1944, in action in Italy, Captain Michael John Pugh, R.A., (Commoner, 1937-39), aged 25.

RAINFORD, Harry (CCC 1934-1935)

Born Preston, Lancashire, 30 December 1911, 2nd son of Walter Rainford, manager of boot and shoe repair company, of Preston.

Educated Preston Grammar School; Bristol University, 2 French 1934.

Oxford Diploma in Education course.

Military service WWII:

Lieutenant, Royal Navy; Radio Officer, HMS Howe.  Killed in action during an air-raid on Portland Harbour on 21 June 1940 (aged 28).

REES, William Larry (CCC 1938-1940)

Born Glanamman, Wales, 6 July 1920, only son of William John Rees, milk-factory manager, of Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Educated Llandovery College School.

Scholar; 2nd public examination History and Politics (Hons) 1940; Secretary, Rugby 1939-1940; President, Sundial Society 1940.

Military service WWII 1941:

Pilot Officer, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Killed in action on 25 July 1941 (aged 21).

RENTOUL, Lawrence Moore (CCC 1935-1939)

Born Belfast, 7 December 1915, only son of the Revd James Lawrence Rentoul, Minister of Presbyterian Church of Ireland.

Educated Campbell College, Belfast, 1929-1935.

3 French and German 1939; BA 1939.

Military service WWII:

Lieutenant, Reconnaissance Regiment. Died of wounds in Italy on 25 June 1944 (aged 28).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Rentoul. – In June, 1944, died of wounds in Italy, Lieutenant Lawrence Moore Rentoul, B.A., Reconnaissance Regiment (Commoner, 1935-39), aged 28.

Self to Woodward 

SELF, Philip Ambrose (CCC 1937-1939)

Born Alton, Hampshire, 7 June 1919, 1st son of George Wilson Self, bank manager, of Torquay, Devon.

Educated Reading School and Newton College.

Scholar; Haigh Prize 1938; 1 Classics Moderations 1939; 2nd public examination Ancient History with distinction 1939.

Military service WWII 1939-1944:

Private, Non-Combatant Corps. Killed accidentally on Salisbury Plain on 3 January 1944 (aged 24).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 5:

Self. – On 3rd January, 1944, accidentally on Salisbury Plain, Philip Ambrose Self, (Scholar, 1937-41).

SHARP, Antony Colin (CCC 1938-1940)

Born Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, 2 March 1919, 1st son of Colin Hugh Calvert Sharp, Headmaster of Abbotsholme School, and Helen Marjorie [Kirk] of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.

Educated Gresham’s School, Norfolk, 1933-1937.

2nd public examination (Hons.) German 1940.

Married 1942 Ann Elizabeth [Read]

Military service WWII 1940-1944:

Captain, 32 Battery, 22nd Field Regiment,Royal Artillery. Killed in action in Italy on 28 June 1944 (aged 25).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Sharp. – In June, 1944, on active service in Italy, Captain Antony Colin Sharp, R.A., (Commoner, 1938-40), aged 25.



Sharp, Anthony Colin Captain 177355

On the 24th of June 1944, the 22nd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery advanced to prepared positions on a line to the west of Lake Trasimene in preparation for an attack by 13th Corps. They were sited about six miles behind the front line at Citta Del Pieve and as they were moving into position they came under a burst of fire from an enemy battery which caused casualties of five other ranks killed with seventeen other ranks and two officers wounded, their worst casualties in the war to that time. The following day, the regiment fired in support of an attack by the 2nd Battalion, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry on the Casamaggiore Ridge. Despite being held up on the right of their advance for most of the day, the Battalion took their objectives by the late afternoon and consolidated their gains after nightfall. The next day, the 28th of June 1944, the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment crossed the ground which had been captured the previous day and advanced on a narrow front towards Nardelli, under the cover of a protective barrage. When they reached their second objective they came under heavy fire from the German positions and were soon pinned down. The tanks which were supporting them also suffered badly from 88mm and 75mm self propelled guns and failed to get as far forward as the infantrymen. Anthony Sharp, who was attached to a company of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, was acting as Forward Observation Officer for the artillery. During the engagement he decided to get further forward, in order to bring his guns to bear on the enemy troops who were pinning the infantry down. He climbed on board one of the squadron commander's tanks and went forward to better observe the enemy positions. On reaching the crest of the ridge his tank was hit and burst into flames, killing him and the tank’s crew.

He is commemorated on the war memorial at Gresham's School and on the memorial at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

He is commemorated on the Cassino Memorial Panel 2



SHEEPSHANKS, Christopher William (CCC 1940-1941)

Born London, 1st son of Sir Thomas Herbert Sheepshanks, KCB, KBE, Civil Service, and Elizabeth Creemer [Calvert] of Woking, Surrey.

Educated Winchester College 1935-1940.

No Oxford University exams.

Military service WWII 1941-1943:

2nd Lieutenant, Rifle Brigade; 1942-1943 Middle East, North Africa (Eighth Army).  Died of wounds received at Wadi Akariti on 31 March 1943 (aged 21).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 3:

Sheepshanks. In March, 1943, in action in the Middle East, Lieutenant Christopher William Sheepshanks, Rifle Brigade (Commoner, 1940-1), aged 21.

SMITH, Kenneth Brooke Farley (CCC 1931-1934)

Born Lyndhurst, Hampshire, 9 January 1913, 3rd son of Thomas Edward Smith, company director, of Lyndhurst.

Educated Charterhouse, Surrey 1927-1931.

Law Moderations 1932; 2 Jurisprudence 1934; BA 1934.

Reading for Bar 1934-1935; military service 1935-1943.

Married 1939 Esmé Doris daughter of Captain Cecil Sutton.

Military service WWII: Pilot Officer to Wing Commander, Royal Air Force Bomber Command; bombing raids on Germany, convoy escorts; Mentioned in Dispatches 1941, 1942; Distinguished Service Order 1941.  Missing 10 April 1943, declared killed in action (aged 30).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 4:

We take the following from the Times:-

Wing Commander Kenneth Brooke Farley Smith, D.S.O., previously reported missing, now presumed to have lost his life on air operations in April, 1943, took part in the first raid of the war. He was awarded the D.S.O. on May 22, 1941, after being engaged on many bombing missions over Germany, in addition to convoy escorts. He commanded No. 58 Squadron, which he first joined as a pilot officer in May, 1936. Throughout his service he displayed exceptional powers of leadership, courage, and determination, and contributed in large measure to the operational efficiency of his squadron. The son of the late Mr. T.E. Smith and Mrs. Smith of Birdham, Sussex, he was born at Lyndhurst, Hants, in 1913, and educated at Charterhouse and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was commissioned as a pilot officer on October 1, 1935, and trained at the R.A.F. College, Cranwell, receiving promotion to flight lieutenant in March, 1939, squadron leader in June, 1940, and wing commander in November, 1940. In February, 1939, he married Esme Doris, elder daughter of Captain and Mrs. Cecil Sutton, of Heathfield House, Brockenhurst.

SOUTH, Thomas Stanley (CCC 1929-1932)

Born Redhill, Surrey, 29 July 1910, only son of Thomas Stanley South of Barton on Sea, Hampshire.

Educated Sherborne School, Dorset 1924-1929.

3 Modern History 1932; BA 1933.

Articled Clerk 1932; solicitor.

Military service WWII:

Pilot Officer, Royal Air Force; 1942 Middle East. Killed in action over the Mediterranean on 15 November 1942 (aged 32).

SPIRO, Henry William (CCC 1931-1935)

Born Cork, 26 August 1912, 1st son of Simon Spiro, merchant (retired), and Sara [Bergson] of London W11.

Educated St Paul’s School, London.

Scholar; 1 Classics Moderations 1933; Junior Medley Scholar 1934; 1 Philosophy, Politics and Economics 1935; BA 1935.

Civil Servant, Ministry of Transport 1935.

Military service WWII:

Ordinary Seaman, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Missing, presumed killed in action aboard HMS Firedrake on 6 December 1942 (aged 30).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 2:

Spiro. – In 1942, missing, presumed killed in H.M. Destroyer Firedrake, Ordinary Seaman Henry William Spiro, B.A., R.N.V.R. (Scholar, 1931-5), aged 29 [30].

SUMMERSELL-DAVIS, Herbert (CCC 1896-1900)

Born Chorlton-upon-Medlock, Manchester, 26 August 1877, 2nd son of Charles Alfred Davis, Baptist Minister, of Stroud, Gloucestershire; husband of Marjorie Davis, of Northaw, Hertfordshire.

Educated Reading School.

Scholar; 2 Classics Moderations 1898; 2 Literae Humaniores 1900; BA 1900; MA 1908. Oxford University Cross-Country Blue 1898, 1899.

Assistant Master, Brighton College 1901, St Olave’s Grammar School, Southward 1902. Appointed by Colonial Secretary to Transvaal Education Department 1903; His Majesty’s Inspector (of Schools), Board of Education 1911.  Subsequently Royal Air Force Education Officer. 

Military Service WWI 1914-1918:

Major, Gloucestershire Regiment; GSO 3, France.

Married; 1 son (D H S Davis CCC 1928).

Military Service WWII:

Squadron-Leader, Royal Air Force. Died on active service on 1 August 1941 (aged 63).  Summersell-Davis has been omitted from the college War Memorial, and is also missing from the War Service.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXIX, No. 1:

Roll of War Service Addenda and Corrigenda:

For 1928 D.H.S. Davis, read 1897 [1896] H.S. Davis Sqn.-Ldr. RAF. D. 1941.

VILLENEUVE, Jacques Pierre Albert (CCC 1935-1936)

Born Paris, 31 August 1914, 2nd son of André Villeneuve, lawyer, of Paris.

Educated Lycée Buffon, Paris. University of Paris, Dr en Droit, Diplôme de l’École Libre des Sciences politiques.

Diploma in Economics and Political Science 1936.

Author of La Preférénce Impériale et la Commerce des Pays Britanniques depuis la Crise, 1937.

Military service WWII:

Lieutenant, French Army; prisoner of war 1942. Died in 1945 [according to War Service]; on 10 June 1946 [according to Biographical Register] (aged 31).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVII, No. 4:

Villeneuve. – On 10th June, 1946, at Puget-Theniers as the result of an accident, Jaques Pierre Albert Villeneuve, Criox de Guerre, Commoner 1935-36, aged 31.

WHITLEY, Robert (CCC 1938-1940)

Born Halifax, Yorkshire, 4 January 1920, 2nd son of Alfred William Whitley (retired) of Halifax.

Educated Loretto School, Lothian.

Special Classics Moderations (Hons) 1939; 2nd public exam Ancient History 1940; President, Sundial Society 1940.

Military service WWII 1940-1944:

Captain Royal Horse Artillery; 1942-1943 (Eighth Army), North Africa, Italy; 1944 France. Killed in action in Normandy on 3 August 1944 (aged 24).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Whitley. – In August, 1944, in action in Normandy, Captain Robert Whitley, R.H.A., (Commoner, 1938-40), aged 24.

WINSER, David Michael de Revda (CCC 1933-1937)

Born Plymouth, 12 March 1915, 1st son of Alfred Michael Winser, solicitor, and Elisabeth Marjorie [Routh] of Bushey, Hertfordshire.

Educated Winchester College 1928-1933.

Scholar; Newdigate Prize for English Verse 1936; 2 Literae Humaniores 1937; BA 1943; BM 1943; Secretary, Boat Club 1934, Captain 1934-1935; President, Sundial Society 1935; Secretary, Oxford University Boat Club 1935; Blue – Oxford University VIII 1936.

Commonwealth Fund Fell, Philosophy, Yale University 1937; medical student Charing Cross Hospital 1939.

Author of Rain (Newdigate Prize) 1936; A Gay Goodnight, 1937 with R G Addis (CCC 1935, see above); Time to Kill, 1939.

Military service WWII:

Lieutenant, Royal Army Medical Corps attached to Royal Marines; Commandos, D-Day (Military Cross); 1944 North West Europe. Killed in action at Walcheren on 1 November 1944 (aged 29).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 6:

Winser. – In November 1944, in action in Western Europe, Lieutenant David Michael de Renda Winser, M.C., B.A., B.M., R.A.M.C. (Scholar, 1933-37), aged 29.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 7:

Lieut. D.M.de R. Winser, M.C., R.A.M.C.

Lieut. R.G. Addis, D.S.C., R.N.V.R.

Friends of these two friends will feel that there is some fitness in their being remembered in these few lines together: they were indeed “lovely and pleasant in their lives” and here at least they need not be divided.

                David Winser was by two years the senior, which one is apt to forget in retrospect, but the gift for friendship that was natural to each of them would have brought him quickly into contact with Dick Addis even in a less generally sociable College than Corpus. Few undergraduates, of course, can achieve such a historic “double” as Winser’s winning of the Newdigate and his stroking of a victorious University Eight in the same term, but Addis had the gifts appropriate to the role of his fidus Achates. They were alike enough in their physical and mental make-up to excel and delight in the same kind of activities, to explore together the pleasures of good reading and writing (Winser’s first novel, published in his Greats’ year, contained an entire chapter contributed by Addis), to enjoy good art, good music and good food, the motion of a racing eight on the Isis or a canoe on the Danube, and to pass on the infection of their own gaiety and spirit.

                In the War which claimed them and their generation it was inevitable that each should play a distinguished part. The details of Winser’s are set out below … The College will remember them both with pride and affection.

                We add the following from the Lancet:-

                David Winser has been killed in Holland at the age of 29. To few men have the gods given more talent, and in a short life he used his gifts to the full. Son of Commander Winser, R.N., he was born at Plymouth. As a scholar at Winchester he won prizes in classics and the King’s gold medal for English verse, he rowed in the school IV and shot in the VIII. While in Canada as a cadet he set up a record for the Dominion Rifle Association by scoring a possible [maximum?] at all ranges.

                He went to Oxford in 1933 as a scholar of Corpus Christi College, and spent four supremely happy years there, making a multitude of friends and reading Greats. He rowed in the University boat of 1935, 1936 and 1937, shot for the University, and won the Newdigate prize with a poem called “Rain” in 1936, the year he stroked the boat. He wrote two novels while an undergraduate. After rowing at Bad Ems against various German crews in 1936, he made an adventurous journey single-handed in a canoe down the Danube to Bucharest, and made his way to Salonika. From there on the Aegean he crossed the open sea in his canoe to Athens, which he was determined to explore. Largely as a result of a description of this trip he was given a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship at Yale. It was then he began his medicine, reading some physiology and becoming interested in child psychology; and on getting back to England he went to St. Thomas’s Hospital as a student. After a few months there he gained a scholarship at Charing Cross Hospital, and he did the rest of his training there. He had supplemented his scholarship in America by odd jobs, so it did not seem strange to work as a night porter in the West End for a few months of his time at hospital, and he got immense fun out of receiving tips from his old Oxford friends who failed to recognise him in his uniform.

                On the outbreak of war Winser volunteered at once as a pilot in the R.A.F., but found to his great disappointment that he was partly colour-blind. So he returned to Charing Cross, qualifying in May, 1943. While there he inquired into the effect of blitz conditions on the incidence of perforated peptic ulcer in London hospitals, and with D.N. Stewart published his findings in The Lancet. Later they, with Dr. C.C. Spicer, added a sequel which Winser summarised as showing that on hearing the sirens middle-aged men with peptic ulcers should take a glass of milk and retire to bed. There too he published two novels under the name of John Stuart Airey [Arey]. Night Work was an account of the reactions of patients, nurses, students and staff in a big hospital during a severe air-raid. His last book, There Was No Yesterday, describing an outbreak of typhoid in a small Welsh town, had a vivid charm which brought it wide popularity.

                While his friends and contemporaries were fighting at sea, in the air and in the Middle East, Winser as a medical student was continually chafing against what he felt to be a life too safe and settled. After six months as a house-physician at his own hospital he joined the R.A.M.C., and volunteered for service with a Royal Marines commando. To his great joy his beloved green berets formed part of the first assault troops on D-day. With them he landed in Normandy, and with them he worked throughout the desperate fighting on the British left flank in June and July. For his gallantry and devotion to duty he received the Military Cross in the field. Next came a short spell in hospital – “I tried to smoke out some bees with a phosphorus grenade”, he wrote in his peripatetic column of Oct. 7, “and got too close”. He spent a week’s hilarious leave in Paris, rejoining his men just in time to take part in the landing on Walcheren Island. While looking after some wounded men he was killed instantly by machine-gun fire.

                Winser had wit and charm and good looks above the average. He had an immense zest for living, and loved every minute of his full life. “He did the things the rest of us dream of doing.” As scholar and author, poet, oarsman and doctor he had many successes, yet he was the most modest of men, and therein lay the secret of his charm. Writing recently as a peripatetic correspondent he said, “one likes offering things to men one has known for some time.” Words could not express more modestly the devotion through which he came to die. “I believe”, writes a friend, “that he would have few regrets.”

Perhaps it was better that I was not there

When my son came,

Who for so many years would have to bear

My countenance and name.

Perhaps it was well that he should only see

You who remember what is best in me.

WINSER, Frederic Christopher Donald (CCC 1938-1939)

Born Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, 11 July 1919, 2nd son of the Revd Rupert Bede Winser and Alison Eleanor [Evans] of Rugby, Warwickshire.

Educated Rugby School 1933-1937.

1st public examination Latin and French, Politics, Economics and German 1939.

Military service WWII 1940-1941:

Flying Officer, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve; 99th Bomber Squadron; Egypt.  Killed in action on 7 July 1941 (aged 21).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXV, No. 4:

The news that Flying Officer Frederick Christopher Donald Winser had been killed in air operations in July was heard with dismay and sorrow by all the many friends he had made while he was at Oxford. He came to Corpus in 1938 as a Commoner, and in a very short time became as popular here as he had formerly been at Rugby School.

                Freddie, for as such we affectionately remember him, had the happy gift of inspiring cheerfulness and confidence in all who met him; nobody could feel despondent in his presence: no company could be dull when he was there. He frequently sat at the head of the Commoners’ “overflow” table in Hall, where his healthy appetite and lively conversation delighted the College servants no less than his fellow-Freshmen. His cheerful optimism was a great source of encouragement, especially to those of us who shared with him the mental anguish of Pass Moderations. He was a robust and versatile games-player; he played regularly for Corpus at rugger, squash, and lawn tennis, and in every game his strength, combined with a skilful agility, made him invaluable to the side.

                It came as no surprise to us to read in a recent number of the Pelican Record that Freddie Winser had performed an act of singular bravery in rescuing a lady from a burning house, but we are glad now that we had this further evidence of his unselfish courage. We know that he gave freely to his Country in defence of that freedom, which we enjoy, all those gifts and fine qualities, with which he was so richly endowed.

                We extend our sympathy to his parents, the Rev. R.B. and Mrs. Winser, and his brother, Bobby, in this their second loss.

WOODWARD, Robert Sinckler (CCC 1938-1939)

Born Simla, India, 31 March 1919, only son of Major Charles Palgrave Woodward of Reading.

Educated Lancing College, Sussex.

1st public examination Latin, French, German, History 1939; Secretary, Oxford University Squash Club, Blue 1938, 1939.

Married Virginia [Stair]; 1 daughter.

Military service WWII 1940-1942:

Squadron-Leader, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 263 Squadron; Distinguished Flying Cross. Killed in action on 7 December 1942 (aged 23).

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, N

Robert Woodward came to Corpus from Lancing in 1938 and was soon taking a most active part in the College. His cheerful disregard for the evils of Pass Moderations, his whimsical philosophy, and his remarkable athletic skill combined to make him as popular with the “grandfathers” of the J.C.R. as he was with his fellow freshmen. He regarded all with a good-humoured acquiescence which demanded a reciprocal attitude on the part of those who knew him.

                It was not long before Robert have proved himself the best Squash Rackets player in the University, gaining his Blue and becoming the Secretary of the O.U.S.R.C. He excelled at slaying opposing right wings on the hockey field, and this naturally qualified him for a regular place in the Corpus team. In College Lawn Tennis he partnered Freddie Winser and this combination was irresistible to opponents and spectators alike.

                Now that the news of his death on active service has reached us, we feel the same sense of tragic loss as we did when we heard that Freddie Winser had been killed. As we remember them both in that year before the war, we are thankful at the knowledge that they will have gone cheerfully and fearlessly to the end. We would like Robert’s wife and parents to know that his many friends share their bereavement and also their happy memories.

                We add the following from the Times:-

                Acting Squadron Leader Robert S. Woodward, D.F.C., previously reported missing, now presumed killed in action, was the only son of Major and Mrs. Woodward, of Goring-on-Thames, and husband of Virginia, née Stair. He leaves a daughter. He was awarded the D.F.C. as a flying officer for service with No. 600 Squadron in August, 1941. He had shown perseverance and keenness during the night flying operations and had destroyed three enemy aircraft. One night in the previous May his aircraft was set on fire when a considerable distance out to sea, but he flew it back over this country and did not abandon it until he had ensured that his observer had left the aircraft safely.

From Pelican Record Vol. XXVI, No. 4:

Woodward. – Reported missing, presumed killed in action, Acting Squadron Leader Robert Sinckler Woodward, D.F.C., Commoner 1938-9

Servants 

Webb, Charles William

WEBB, Charles William

Son of Charles and Evelyn Webb; husband of Frances Winifred Mary Webb, of Grandpont, Oxford.

Military service WWII:

Sergeant, 4th Battalion Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry; 1940 France; Prisoner of War.  Died as a prisoner of war on 26 July 1940 (aged 36).