Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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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.

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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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22 FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1960-1961 The New Wing The welcome addition of a new wing over the Dining Hall was the outstanding feature of school opening last September-and now that it has been in use for the best part of a year we all wonder how on earth we managed without it! Plans were prepared early last spring by Old Boy Frank Nobbs, who has done the planning for so many of the additions to the school, and work started in mid-May so as to make sure that all would be in readiness for September opening - as indeed it was. In addition to the provision of two large and bright classrooms, and a very useful Visual Aids room between them, the plans called for extensive changes on the top floor of the main building, where a smallish classroom was eliminated by the moving of partitions to make the rooms on either side much more spacious and commodious. At the first Assembly of the school year, the new wing was formally opened by Mr. H. Stirling Maxwell, chairman of the Board of Governors. Others present for this occasion were Colonel John G. Bourne, chairman of the Building Committee, Mr. Frank Nobbs, architect, and Mr. William C. Speirs, also an architect and builder, who was visiting our headmaster from Scotland. The Library Another year has passed-and it has been a good one for the Library. There are now more than five thousand books on our shelves. Many kind friends of the school have made donations of books. These include Mrs. Harold Beament who gave us a twenty volume set ol World Book Encyclopedia , Miss Locke, who donated a very beautiful set of twenty-one fruit pictures, Mr Angus Murroy, Ralston and Lafontaine of Form V, Peck, Chambers, Southam and Craig of B25 Colby of lB, McLernon of Bl, Henry Joseph of 2A, and Fuller of A2. ln addition the School purchased over twenty new volumes, while Fines between September and early April paid for nearly forty additional beautiful and sought after books. Selwyn House School is fortunate in having an especially large and varied collection of encyclopedias, reference books and biographies. Happily, these cover a wide range of age levels, so that all boys are able to find desired information for essays and other projects. Among others, the Stamp Club has found our many Stamp Catalogues and Stamp Reference Books most useful. The boys have been using the Library more and more for reference, which is most gratifying to the teaching staff. A special Geography Section is being planned which we hope will prove especially useful to both Staff and Students. Our collection of Junior Books has been greatly increased. These have been used to provide Forms D and C with large classroom libraries with books rotated occasionally from the main Library. These class libraries are very popular with the pupils. As is usual, the boys brought in for display a wide selection of interesting treasures, which have been greatly enioyed by all. l wish to thank Miss Locke and express my appreciation and gratitude for the efficient and kindly way she took over my work while I was in the hospital. All in all, with the large circulation of books and the good use made of them and also of the new cupboards in the Library Office, which are greatly appreciated. T960-l96l, I would say was a most successful year. E. Pick, Librarian.