Elmira District Secondary School - Oracle Yearbook (Elmira, Ontario Canada)

Page 10 text:

GRADUATES 1940 - 41 F., TOP iAcademic Graduates?-Seated: Mary Welker, Gladys Hollinger, Genowefy Ritter, Wilma Wiechnian, Orma Stevens, Grace Orr, Helena Klinck. Standing: Mr. Currie, Ray Bott, Willard Miller, John Morris, Laverne Watson, Frederick Weismiller, Ralph Howlett, Walter Henrich, William Lutz. BOTTOM CCommercial Graduates?--Seated: Ruth Lavery, Audrey Ernst, Grace Busch, Elma Brent, Mary Merner, Elizabeth Elliott. , Standing: Kenneth Adams, Kathleen Logel, Gladys Campbell, Helena Warkentin, Helen Deckert, Jean Shoemaker, Cecil Wilker, Mr. Mclntyre.

Page 9 text:

THE PRINCIPAL SPEAKS w v w HE second edition of the E. H. S. Oracle is about to go to the Press. It represents a culmina- tion of the efforts of practically the whole student body, working co- operatively in association with and guided by the very generous assist- ance of the staff members. The sacrifice of both time and effort in planning the various phases of this Volume, in which all have worked together without thought of credit, and in which applause and approval are forgotten, is characteristic of the democratic way of life. This way calls for three funda- mental qualities, namely, co-opera- tion, compromise, and tolerance. When we work together without any thought of rewardg when each is willing to submerge some indi- vidual desire in order to get along with the group, and when we re- cognize that people differ and have a perfect right to differences of opinion so long as they do not try . to force these on others, we are building a sound foundation for G- E- CURRIE- 13-A- good citizenship. The ultimate purpose of education should be the creation of the best citizen possible. In so far as a school exalts these three qualities, to that extent will it produce good citizens. Students are not separate, self-contained units, from the time they draw their first breath they are social beings, members of a community, enjoying the benefits and sharing the obligations of community life. When we pause to consider that a nation is a collection of communities, we realize something of the far-reaching effects of citizenship training. The home, the school and the church are said to be the bulwarks of a nation. When these community units work at variance within themselves or with one another the influence is projected into the town, into the province, and eventually into the nation, ultimately leading to dictatorship, the very antithesis of democracy. There is a delicate balance between our rights and our duties , If we are helping to make our school, our community and our country a better place in which to live, only then can we be truly proud of them. We should accept the broad responsibilities of citizenship realizing that the rights which we enjoy cannot be enjoyed apart from the community, and that they are not our creations but a gift, purchased by the communities of our ancestors with the price of great sacrifices and handed down freely for our protection. At present our Empire is engaged in the most terrific conflict the World has ever witnessed in the defence of human liberty and democracy. Sacrifices beyond 'human comprehension are being freely made so that freedom of thought and of action may not perish. The opportunities for service are tremendous, Let us all play a truly great part in this heroic sacrifice and so be prepared to give leader- ship to that new world which will emerge on the morrow of this great struggle. ' G. E. CURRIE, B.A., i Principal.

Page 11 text:

N. QL. X : I .- ,, 9 ' , A 4 A Ill .I .-an s, . IIA A . ... . 1 5 -. F - G.-A e , - ,.,.. Ei' F' 1 W M Eigflillsfigl-.a isf fi- - fe, .. ' S f ,. f ' 3' -- 'N J A S mnxhld : I THE DEFENCE OF MOYALE By DAVID ROWLAND, GRADE XII I Winner First Prize Prosej In the month of August, 1940, at the little frontier town of Moyale, there was stationed a small British garrison. It consisted of fifty men from 'each of the four Soudanese battalions defending Kenya against an Italian attack. The 6th, 13th, 16th and 42nd Battalions were re- presented, and, as a defence against a mechanized attack, four rapid- fire anti-tank guns with thirty-two members of the South African Field Force had been added but a fortnight previously. This small force was under the command of Major G. R. Smith-Dorrien. Against his force was arrayed the strength of one full Italian mechanized bri- gade, the 32nd, consisting in the main, of native Askaris. Major Smith-Dorrien had orders to hold Moyale only long enough to inflict a few casualties on the ene- my, and to iind out the strength of their attackers. But the High Com- mand never expected that the Ital- ians would hurl an entire brigade against such an unimportant post as Moyale. Thus, when, on the twenty-second of August, the Ital- ians crossed the border in force, Smith-Dorrien was unprepared to meet such an assault. Swiftly he collected approximately seventy- five of the Soudanese infantry-men, and with one gun and its crew, hurled them against the attacking enemy tanks. The rest of the men quickly gathered a quantity of food into the small mud fort overlooking Moyale and constituting the only defence of the town. Here the re- maining men repaired and spent the next few hours strengthening the walls and mounting the three remaining guns. During the after- noon, the remnants of the defend- ing force withdrew to the fort. Al- though they had lost sixteen dead and thirty-four wounded, they had .brought off their gun, after inflict- ing heavy casualties on the enemy. All night the sentries could hear the shouts of the Italians as they looted the town and sent pickets to surround the fort and prevent the garrison's withdrawing. Shortly before dawn one hundred villagers arrived, having stolen through the enemy pickets and reached, thefort. They were first armed, and then sent to the walls to assist in re- pulsing the attack that the enemy was sure to make as soon as it was light enough to see. The garrison now consisted of two hundred and fifty-four native soldiers, four anti-tank guns, , and twenty-eight South Africans, barely enough to provide pickets on the walls, much less to defend these same walls against an attack. At dawn the expected attack was launched. Fifteen Italian Fiat tanks, followed by a battalion of Askaris, dashed forward towards QA -.x ' X ,X