Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

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8 Empire Day Celebration This year Empire Day was celebrated with the usual cere- monies on Fridr y, May 22. Once again we l ad the privilege of welcoming the Naval Commander-in-Chief, dmiral Sir Charles Kennedy-Purvis, who was accompanied by Oiptain S. M. Raw, R.N. The I.O.D.E., to whose efforts the continued celebration of the day in Bermuda is largely due, was represented by Mrs. Leon Powell. On his arrival the Admiral inspected a Cadet Guard of Honour drawn up on the Parade Ground. Afterwards he spoke to the School in the Hall. In his address he said that now, as previous- ly, Germany recognized that her main enemy was England, which lay right across her sea frontier; hence her main effort had been to circumvent the obstacle by seizing almost the whole Atlantic seaboard of Europe, and at the same time to strangle Britain ' s war effort by sinking ships. At the time when Germany turned her attention to Russia, in an attempt to clear her rear before attacking England, we had succeeded in reducing shipping losses to a minimum. But the entry of Japan into the war and the failure of Germany to obtain a quick victory over Russia, had decided our enemies to intensify their efforts to sink ships. It would re- quire time to make our precautions as effective this side of the Atlantic as they, were on the other side, but it would be accom- plished in the near future. He then introduced Captain Raw, who, he said had been in command of submarines during all his service and could speak from his personal experience of the part played by submarines in meeting the enemy ' s attack by sea. Captain Raw said that, since submarines could work unseen, they could approach much nearer to the enemy ' s bases and shores than could surface craft; they were the scouts and outposts of the fleet, and usually worked by themselves on patrol, but they were still very much part of a team. He gave some examples of the work done by submarines in searching out enemy raiders and pro- tecting convoys, often under the most arduous conditions. Par- ticularly after the collapse of France all our naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea were vastly outnumbered by the Italians. Yet Sir Andrew Cunningham had decided that he, not they, was to rule that sea. After two years of uphill work, during which he had retained the initiative against a superior enemy, he was making good his determination. Submarines were concerned not merely with defensive work. Captain Raw gave examples of some daring and brilliant offensive operations carried out by submarines in the Mediterranean. The successes obtained by each craft were recorded by means of vari- ous symbols affixed to a skull and crossbones flag presented to each crew.

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7 The Prime Minister ' s Visit to Bermuda One afternoon in January we were surprised out of our usual routine by a hurried and urgent order to go out to the School Gate at once. There was no time to ask or be told why. Even so we were on y just in time to see the Prime Minister pass. The crowd of boys cheered lustily and were greeted with the V for Victory ' sign that Mr. Churchil uses. Later the Headmaster sent a letter to Government House expressing, on behalf of the School, our loyalty to him and to the cause for which we are fight- ing. A letter of thanks was received in reply, signed by Mr. Chur- chill h mself. This letter has since been framed and hung in the School. Visit of E The Governor On the morning of the 6th of February the pupils of the School had the privilege of a visit from H.E. the Governor on a tour of inspection. He was accompanied by the A.D.C. Lieut. J. Bett, and he was met at the gate by the Headmaster and the Head Prefect. H.E. first inspected the Cadet Guard of Honour, which was drawn up on the parade ground by the flagstaff, and afterwards visited the classrooms, making enquiries in each form about the subject in progress. Following the inspection the school adjourned to the Assembly Hall, where H.E. addressed the boys. The pro- ceedings concluded with a Physical Training display on the field. In his speech H.E. said that he was duly impressed by the boys ' attitude to their work and by the glimpse he had had of the school in motion, par ticularly the Cadet Corps. Naturally during wartime any subjects which they were studying gained interest by reason of the connection with the war, places which previously had been mere geographical expressions had come into the forefront of the news on account of their strategic position. This was especially true of Bermuda, which, apart from being an important Naval Base, had seen the passage of a constant stream of notable person- alities. The recent visit of Mr. Churchill was a good example. He strongly recommended the boys to note Mr. Churchill ' s command of the English language and his gift of inspiring con- fidence by his speeches which was as much a source of his power as was his fighting spirit. H.E. concluded by asking the Head- master for a half-holiday for the boys and said that he had taken great pleasure in his visit. The Headmaster thanked His Excellency, and said that he had great pleasure in granting the half-holiday.

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9 Conditions of life on board a submarine were peculiar; they could only come to the surface at night, and so they turned night into day and had break ast at 8 p.m., lunch at midnight and supper at 4 a.m. They had special food to compensate for these conditions and to provide the vitamins necessary for good vision. The crews were all carefully picked volunteers, whose morale was high and who worked together as a team, a most important consideration in modern war. These men were all inspired by the spirit animating the Duke of Montrose when he wrote in the seventeenth century: He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, Who dare not put it to the touch To win or lose it all. Sir Andrew Cunningham kept a copy of this as his motto on his desk. It was not the principle of ' Safety First ' that brought victory, but the refusal ever to consider even the possibility of defeat. School Notes This year we were more successful than usual in the Cambridge Exams: all our candidates passed. For the first time a candidate, was entered in the Higher Certificate and he passed. D. E. Camp- bell was, to the best of our belief, the first boy educated entirely in Bermuda to pass this exam. Besides this success the following passed the School Certificate; — Barnard, Brooks, Burland i, Burland ii. Darling i, Greenman, Lough, Motyer i, Motyer ii, Misick, Phillips, Petty, Welch; and in the Junior: — Cohen, Covel, Critchley, Gilbert, Hallam, Hallett, Malloy, Masters, Nicholson i, Nugent, Selley, Spurling i, Trimingham i. Tucker i. To cele- brate this success we had a whole holiday on Thursday, May 14th. In January we began to use the new building. This has pro- vided us with a new form-room and new lavatories, and the old lavoratory has been converted into a very fine Class-room. At the same time the corridor upstairs in the old building has been con- tinued so that it is now possible to go from the senior part of the building to the junior without disturbing IV b. The architect was Mr. George Hutchings and the contractor Mr. Beek. Mr. W. B. Welch ' s ' ' Experiments in Literature was pub- lished a few weeks ago. All the material was contributed by boys in the school and the type was set and the magazine printed and bound by the boys under Mr. Welch ' s direction. The production wa sold in the town in aid of war charities. Last October, when there was a danger of a typhoid epi- demic, arrangements were made to inoculate those who desired protection. For days parties of boys were conducted to the hos- pital by one or another of the staff. Very few were seriously af- fected, and there was singularly little interference with the games.