War Memorial House Competition

21 November 2022

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In honour of Remembrance Day this year the History Department once again set an inter-house competition asking students to create a fact file to honour their family members who have been, or continue to be, members of the armed forces; in so doing we wanted to provide a lasting record to commemorate their involvement in past, and more recent, campaigns.

The response was amazing and we were truly humbled by the heroic stories revealed by our students’ research into their families’ past. They ranged from parents and uncles involved in recent conflicts in Afghanistan, through to one student’s great, great uncle being awarded the Victoria Cross! It was a difficult decision to make, but we managed to select our overall first prize winners from years 7 and 8. The house which gained the most points was Clitheroe House making them the winners of this year’s Interhouse War Memorial Competition.

Year 7 – Joint first prize winners Charlie R (Clitheroe) and Alex L (Clitheroe):

Charlie R – Charlie’s great, great Uncle George ‘Corporal George Rule’ joined the army in April 1914 and became a member of the 16th Lancers and 2nd Royal Irish Rifles during WW1. He fought battles at Marnes, Messine, Armentieres, Ypres , St Julien and Bellewarde and tragically lost his life at the Battle of the Somme on 16th July 1916, leaving behind his loving girlfriend Annie and his 5 brothers and sisters.

Alex L – Alex’s great grandad Raymond Shaw grew up wanting to be a pilot. When he was 19 he joined the RAF and went onto train to be a fighter pilot with 42 squadron and take part in the Burma Campaign, flying a Hurricane bomber plane low over Japanese fuel supplies on the ground whilst under heavy Japanese fire from below. Alex remembers asking his great grandad “Was it frightening?” to which he replied “It was, but it had to be done.”

Year 8 – First prize winner Kyle C (Finney):

Kyle’s great great grandfather, Richard ‘Dicky’ Bond, signed for Preston North End in 1902 at the age of 18 and went onto play 150 games for Preston and Bradford as well as playing 8 games for the England National Team, scoring 2 goals against Ireland! He was a key player in Preston’s 1902 2nd Division winning squad and Bradford’s 1911 FA Cup triumph. His footballing career was put on hold whilst with the Bradford Pals during World War One. He and his crew defended territory in Egypt (the Suez Canal) and France (as a machine gunner at the Battle of the Somme) and in 1916 he was taken as prisoner of war and held in a German camp for 2 years until the end of WW1.

All entries will soon be housed in ACSC War Memorial Archive which will be able to be accessed by our ACSC community so that we can all honour the amazing stories told.