Trinity College School - Record Yearbook (Port Hope, Ontario Canada)

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TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD 9 derers at his gates and inspired the defenders until at the last the horrible might of the enemy broke through and he, with thousands of others, was quickly silenced. His voice was no longer heard, but how loud it still is, a lone man inspiring his countrymen to hope, to have faith, and hold on as best they can. Then, just two years ago, 'the Germans found them- selves free to turn their bombs of wrath on the British people and you know what undying courage that nation showed in its gravest hour of trial. A handful of gallant R.A.F. and R.C.A.F. fighters flew against the enemy night and day, modern St. Georges going out unceasingly to battle the foul dragons of the clouds. Though their bodies were ragged from loss of sleep and constant strain, and their machines often riddled by the superior numbers and firing power of the enemy, their spirit was undauntedg they faced the foe, kept on facing him and battling him, and finally won out, gaining a victory which will rank with the greatest battles of history, per- haps the turning point in the fight for the preservation of the civilized World. Look at the Russians last winter, the battles of Moscow and of Leningrad, retreat after retreat but never giving ing enormous areas of their country ravaged and destroyed and burnt, their people in slavery, brutally treated or killed. But they stood up against it and saved their principal cities by attacking when they seemed completely defeated, finally beating back their barbarous enemies. To-day, at this moment, they are repeating their gallantry and iight- ing to the death to save another of their great cities and strategic points. Think of the Chinese, no army to speak of, no air force, no navy, when their highly organized and cunning enemies turned on them, and for five years they have battled against the foe with their bare hands, retreat after retreat, but never giving in, and now they see signs of victory, dimly on the horizon.

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S TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD team is losing and making a grand and sporting iight for it, we feel an urge to cheer them on. Fortunately we have probably never seen one of our teams give up just because the other boys got aheadg We always try hard until the final whistle. But if we should see a team give in before the end and let the others romp through them, what a heartsick feeling we should have. Perhaps we have seen a boy give up, go slack and make no effort to succeed in work or in games. We know what a grave mistake it is, how tragic for his future, and we feel that a life has been wasted, a life that had glorious possibilities, as every life has, if only the spark had been there. It is the spirit of man that counts in this life, I have said it to you before and it cannot be repeated too often. Your good spirit is the spark that turns your latent energy into real power and carries you forward. Think for a moment of some of the recent illustrations of undying spirit. Still ringing in my ears is the gallant voice of the Mayor of Warsaw in those first terrible days of the War when the German army, with a hitting power unprecedent- ed in history, encircled the city and called for its surrender, threatening to annihilate it and its inhabitants were the ultimatum refused. The mayor was a man like you or me whose years in oflice had been spent in building up a great modern city with all its comforts and beauties. When many were panic stricken and fled as best they could, he stood his ground and refused to give in to such a brutal and ruthless tyranny of force. And so, night by night, he radioed his brave challenge to the world, always pre- ceding his remarks with the bars of Chopin's glorious Polish music, the Polonaise, great heart-stirring music well suited to the heart-stirring heroic words which were to follow. With the city being smashed to bits before his eyes. his family and friends killed or wounded or fleeing, he would not give in, but flung his challenge to the mur-

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10 TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD It is the spirit of such people that has carried them through, the never say die spirit that makes a man alive when he really should be dead. There are unnumbered individual examples of heroism these days, many of them untold and unsung, but all testi- fying to the dauntless spirit of man. Yesterday I read of an R.A.F. pilot badly wounded over enemy territory but determined to save his observer and bring his light bomber home if it were humanly possible. Over the channel the damaged plane was dropping lower and lower, and the pilot was getting steadily weaker from loss of blood. His observer called him on the telephone and asked if they had not better jump for it, No , came the reply, hold ong I think we can make it . Later the same enquiry and again the same reply, though the voice was faint. Then they saw land, now only a bare thousand feet beneath them. Shall I open your hatch , said the observer. No, you get out while the going's good , said the pilotg 'Tm afraid I'm finished. The observer landed safely and the pilot crashed with his machine. Dead, yes, but his spirit saved a life and will inspire many others to give their all in this battle for existence. At Dieppe there were countless examples of undying spirit. Colonel Merritt led his men to a bridge over a valley in the centre of the city. The enemy had their machine guns trained on it and everyone who approached it was caught by the hail of bullets. Out walked Colonel Merritt to the centre of the bridge, head erect, swinging his steel helmet in his hand and call- ing out, Come on, fellows, see, it's all right, there's no real danger. And so they took the bridge. A Chaplain from this town, the Rev. A. J. Foote, safe on his ship after the terrible nine hours on the beaches, saw a medical officer still tending the wounded left behind. Without hesitation he leapt into the sea, swam ashore, and helped to succour the wounded, all in the face of heavy fire from the enemy.