Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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20 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE by a miracle of weather and lack of German pursuit most of the British were evacuated through Dunkirk. Britain now faced Germany alone, having lost nearly all her equipment in France. The first Canadian Division was practically the only fully equipped unit of its size in Britain. By this time many Canadian Airforce fighter pilots had ioined the British Squadrons. Some of your Fathers were among this group of Battle of Britain Pilots. Our small but growing Navy was doing convoy work in the Channel and the Atlantic. Many Canadians were posted to British ships for duty and training. As the war spread throughout the World, Canadian members of the three services were serving in Hong Kong, India, and the Middle East. The United States was doing everything a friendly neutral could do. Late in l94l the attack of Pearl Harbour took place and the U.S. declared war on Japan, and shortly after on Germany and Italy, thus becoming Britains' ally, and able to throw her production potential fully into the effort. In July T943, the Canadian lst. Division invaded Sicily and Italy as part of the 8th, Army of Britain, assisted by our Air Force and Navy. ln the meantime the troops in England were training for the invasion of Northwest Europe. By midnight June 6, l944, D DAY, Canadian paratroopers had landed in France, to be followed by seaborne forces at dawn, who had sailed from England many hours before. The Canadians formed the left wing of the three-pronged campaign. Finally reaching Rouen on the Seine River. After the terrible Caen-Falais battle, thrusting towards Antwerp to open the Schelde as a supply port. The French ports of Calais and Dunkirk having been by passed, leaving the enemy in possession. The Canadians assisted by British forces under our General Crerar were given the task of clearing the Schelde islands of Walcheren and Bevelan. Following which the Canadians were then sent back to clear Dunkirk and Calais. The next push was the Rhine crossings into Germany, fighting every yard across Belgium, Holland, through the Riechwald Forest and the Seigfried defences in the Hochwald Forest. At this time, a half a million men, practically all the fighting strength of the Empire in Europe, were under Canadian Command. Nijmegen and Arnheim are names you must have heard of, on the Rhine. By the beginning of May the Canadians had reached Emden and Oldenberg. On May 5, l94S Germany finally gave up. l could have taken almost any action and given you a detailed and interesting story, instead of which l have covered six years in about as many minutes, in an attempt to point out that this country's efforts were far greater that you realize. There were roughly 370,000 Army, 177,000 Airforce and nearly 120,000 Navy at the height of hostilities. You have heard the names of 50 of your old boys who lost their lives. How many more served from the School, I don't know. At the outbreak of war there were about 600 who were fit and of an age to serve. Boys of Selwyn House, you have every right to be very proud of your Country.

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1960-1961 I9 Remembrance Day Address, 1960 By Colonel Kenneth M. Case, E.D. Why are we gathered together here on this day? This date, November Ilth, marks the signing of the Armistice terminating the First World War, and was observed annually in remembrance of those who gave their lives. Following the Second World War the day became Remembrance Day. Observed each year at Il a.m., November llth., as a moment of remembrance of all those who fell in all the Wars. lt is my intention to give you briefly, an outline of the efforts of the Canadian Navy, Army and Airforces in the last War and to try to impress upon you that no single nation achieved the overthrow of Germany and Italy in Africa and Europe. I have, in the past little while, been speaking to several young people. I have been surprised and a little perturbed to find that so many are under the impression that there was only one country which was in the war and which succeeded in defeating the enemy. This is understandable, most of the pictures you have seen, the stories on the Radio and T.V. and most magazine articles, even your comics have spoken or written only about our neighbours to the South. On the other hand, Britain and her Allies, the Commonwealth of Nations or the British Dominions, have never been too concerned with telling the world what they were doing or had done. It is very rare to find a story or moving picture that singled out one of their happenings or an individual to build an exciting story about. We, who were involved are at fault! None of us have told you much about the war and our experiences. If you were to ask about some particular incident and we had been there, you might be surprised with the story. Let me begin by telling you that certain countries, because of their education, training and discipline, have very valuable attributes to offer in time of war or crisis. We are concerned at the moment only with the Canadians. The youngest of you knows that Canada is a very very large land mass with a rugged and varied climate. Larger than any country in Western Europe or Australia or New Zealand. We have a small population spread from coast to coast. To be successful every man has to be self reliant, yet willing to work together with other people. He has to think for himself, You are being taught these same points at Selwyn House in your games and studies! Your games to teach you teamwork and your studies to teach you to think for yourself, also to practice self discipline. From the smallest formation to regiments, corps and armies, Canadians are disciplined. Knowing what was expected of them they got on with it. If the circumstances changed the Group could and did alter the plan without waiting to be told how and what to do next. Because these forces could be so effective they were used in every area of the war, usually under British Command. The war started when German troops invaded Poland, without a declaration of war, on September I, l939. Three days later Great Britain and France declared war, fulfilling their pledge to defend Polish independence. All the Dominions quickly rallied to the colours, eager to know what form their contribution should take. Like the other democracies, Canada was unprepared for war. She had a small Permanent Force, a trained skeleton General Staff and an Non-Permanent Active Militia, or Reserve as you now know it. By December l939 the first contingent of Canadian Army docked in Great Britain. A few units joined the British forces in France, but too late to see action. France was falling -the Maginot Line had been by-passed in the North through Belgium by the Germans. Fortunately the Canadians managed to escape through Calais before the port fell and

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1960-l96'l 21 Board and Staff We were very sorry to lose the valuable services of Mr. Dan Doheny from the Board of Governors this year. Mr. Doheny had been most active on the Board for many years, and his enthusiasm for the school and his sage counsel on all matters of policy and of law have meant more than we can say to the welfare of Selwyn House. His place on the Board has been taken by another distinguished Old Boy of the School, Mr. John de M. Marler. The Board paid tribute at its annual meeting also to Mr. Stirling Maxwell, who stepped down from the chair after three years of outstanding leadership, during which time a number of important improvements and additions had been made to the school, including the fine new wing over the dining hall. We-are most happy that Mr. Maxwell is remaining on the Board. We are delighted to welcome Colonel John G. Bourne as the new Chairman. As chairman of the Building Committee of the school for the past few years, he has given most generously of his time and expert knowledge to the supervision and direction of the notable physical improvements in the school plant, and we rejoice that the Board leadership is in his capable hands. Newcomers to the Staff soon felt very much at home-Mrs. Maclean and Mrs. Watts mostly in iunior school work, Mr. Lewis in Gymnastics and games, and Mr. Blaiklock, an Old Boy and former Lucas Medallist of the School, in the varied activities of classroom, sports arena and cubs. We are sorry that Mrs. Watts, whose father, Mr. Kenneth Carter, was once a student at Selwyn House, will not be back with us next September, and we pass on our thanks and best wishes to her. Also leaving us in June are Mr. Davies and Mr. Philipp. Mr. Davies has been with us for ten years, ioining our Staff family at short notice on the illness and retirement of Mr. Howis. He has been in charge of the History and Geography Departments of the School, to which he brought a breadth of knowledge and depth of insight which enriched the lives of the hundreds of Selwyn House boys who passed through his hands. Mr. Philipp came to Selwyn House on graduation from McGill University two years ago, and his competent work both in the classroom and the Manual Training department has earned him much merited praise. We wish them both every success and extend to them the appreciation of all as they move on to other fields of endeavour. Former members of the Staff keep up their contacts with the school-it is always a pleasure to hear from Miss Afra Snead in England and from Mr. Timothy Rutley, who is teaching in Japan, and to have periodic visits from our other friends, who are much nearer at hand-Miss Bruce, Mrs. Farquhar, Madame Gyger. All were so genuinely thrilled to see Miss Locke and Mrs. Tester-the former so kindly helping out in the library during the enforced absence of Miss Pick because ot illness during the Easter Term, and the latter arriving at less than an hour's notice to take classroom duty when the flu bug attacked the Staff! We are always happy too to see Mr. Howis, and his kindly commendation of the boys' efforts in carols and plays at the Christmas entertainment was greatly appreciated.