30 - Memory Lane
The History behind the Trinity War Memorial by Neil Mackenzie, Class of 1981 In 2007, Mark Gardiner (Class of 1981) and I embarked on a weeklong tour of the cemeteries within the Ypres Salient in Belgium, totalling approximately 170 sites. While preparing for this trip, we noticed that Whitgift School had a Roll of Honour for Old Boys who had perished in the Great War. Surprisingly, no equivalent record existed for Trinity, which was known as Whitgift Middle School in 1914. With invaluable assistance from the school’s archivist at the time, Annie Morley, we began compiling accounts of all the men listed on the War Memorial who had been interred or commemorated in the Ypres Salient. During our trip, we paid our respects at their graves and memorials, as well as those of approximately 300 other individuals, placing poppy crosses and remembering their sacrifice.
Upon our return, we initiated research on all the men and boys listed on the War Memorial, gathering information on their pre-war lives, their time at the school, their wartime service and the circumstances surrounding their deaths. Researching those who served in the British army during WW1 was challenging because of the loss of many records during the Blitz of 1940-41. Nevertheless, the National Archive at Kew and the informative book ‘Croydon and the Great War,’ published in 1920, provided valuable insights. During our research, we discovered that there were Old Boys who had attended Whitgift Middle (WM) and lost their lives in the war who were not commemorated on the Memorial. This was partly because some of the boys transferred from WM to Whitgift Grammar School. Notable among
them was 2nd Lieutenant Lionel Morris, the first pilot to be shot down by Manfred von Richthofen, the ‘Red Baron’.
In total, we identified 36 Old Boys who had fallen in the Great War but were not commemorated. We collaborated with the school to address this issue, ultimately deciding to redesign the memorial. Although there was some concern about modifying an existing memorial, it had already undergone five relocations or alterations since its original unveiling in 1921. In addition to adding the new WW1 names, we wanted to enhance the visibility of the names of Old Boys who had perished in WW2. Their names had been added to a lower metal plaque on the Memorial, rendering them almost unreadable without bending over. The new Memorial was unveiled on November 7, 2018. Despite heavy rain for the duration of the rededication ceremony, led by the Bishop of Croydon, the sun emerged the moment it was over. The Colour Party from the School got soaked, but us oldies had umbrellas, so we were fine! The surrounding flowerbed featured
