Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

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THE BRENTONIAN SCHOOL MOTE ON MARCH 1ST, General Hertzberg, former commandant of Royal Military College, Kingston, came out to the School to address the boys. He warned us against taking Safety First as our motto, for if we did, we would never get anywhere ' in this world. During his talk, General Hertzberg gave us news of some of the more recent Brentwood Old Boys to pass through R.M.C. — Desmond Holmes, John Martin and Harry Rogers — and he was full of praise for all of them. Near the end of the Summer Term, the school was honored by the all- day visit of Canon Michael Coleman, of Victoria, late of London, England. During the afternoon he played cricket with some of the senior boys, and after supper, in place of the regular prep period, conducted a kind of Religious Forum in which all boys were allowed to and did ask any ques- tions on religion that they wished and Coleman answered them as best he could. We all spent a very enjoyable evening and benefitted much more from the talk than we probably would have done from prep. During the year, many Old Boys visited the school and three of them, one from each service, were persuaded to tell us a little of their experiences. On February 22nd., Lieut. Danny Elmpre told of his experiences in the United States Navy from the time that he joined up, through Pearl Harbour, where for many days everyone believed him to be dead, to the landings on Saipan and in the Philippines, in which he took an active part. At the beginning of June, Lieut. John Nation visited the school and told us what he had been doing since the war began, in the Canadian Army. He spoke much of his experiences in Great Britain and in France and Belgium after the invasion had taken place. [Page Nine]

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THE BRENTONIAN W. S. THACKRAY : Junior Matric. Prefect; Captain of the Waterfront; Captain of Cadet Corps and Shooting; Captain of Badminton; Member of the 1st. XV; Sailing Captain. Entering first year at Victoria College and thence to R.M.C. R. S. TRACY: Junior Matric. Member of the 2nd. XV. A. H. B. WOTHERSPOON: Junior Matric. 1st XV Colours. Member of Track Team. Sailing Captain. Entering first year at U.B.C. and a course in Commerce. J. A. HANSON: Junior Matric. 1st XV Colours. Member of the Track Team. G. HOLLAND: Junior Matric. Member of the 2nd. XV. Sailing Captain. Leading Seaman in the Cadet Corps. R. WILSON: Grade XL Member of the Colts XV. J. F. BURFORD: Grade X. Member of the 2nd. XV. P. GREENOUGH: Grade IX. I. DAVIDSON : Grade IX. [Page Eight]

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THE BRENTONIAN On the last night of the school year, we heard from Flight Lieut. Dick Whittall, back from sixty operations over enemy territory with the R.C.A.F. Pathfinders. He explained many of the ways by which our planes were able to make raids on the most heavily defended targets, and told us the particulars of the two raids for which he received his D.F.C. and Bar. But most entertaining of all were his drawings of the British and German coasts which he made on the blackboard at various times during his talk. All three of these talks were equally interesting, and we hope that in the next few years, many more Old Boys will come back to the school and recount their war experiences. During the year we went to various entertainments at the Royal Victoria Theatre. In the Christmas term a first class company presented A Doll ' s House and some of the seniors who were doing this play for Matric. went to see it. A further treat was in store in the Easter term for drama lovers, Paul Robeson visiting Victoria in Othello. This was very beautifully presented both as regards acting and staging by the Theatre Guild of New York. It was quite an eye-opener to those who only look upon Shakespeare as the rather tiresome author of long-winded plays, concocted, apparently, for the sole purpose of over-burdening the already sorely tried brains of boys and girls at school. The play, which was magnificently acted, was amazingly suited to the modern mood as Shakespeare ' s always are. The permanent set was very ingeniously contrived, representing, with very few changes of properties, extremely varied types of scenery. Later in the Easter term, an opera company presented Carmen, and quite a number of us attended it. It was well produced and sung, but like so many operas lasted well into the night! In the Christmas term the Upper House Prefects, Ley, Thackray and Church, entertained their House, Mr. and Mrs. Privett and the matrons, and Mrs. McGuire to a Movie Show in the Library followed by a sumptuous repast. The films shown were well chosen from a wide variety of subjects and everybody much enjoyed the evening. After this some of us went to see Ruth Draper when she visited the Royal Victoria. As usual she was entirely delightful, and enthralled a packed house for a couple of hours, singlehanded, and with no scenery. Yet when we left, it was with the impression of having seen many and varied characters and having visited a great many different places . . . In the Easter term Lewis was selected to play fly-half for the Victoria Rep. Rugby team. He played in two matches, and in Vancouver scored Victoria ' s only try. At the end of the Christmas term we had a turkey dinner, after which the Head made a short speech, and was astonished and delighted to receive [Page Ten]