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The Prebendal School’s Quest for Remembrance
Tom Bromfield, Head of Humanities, the Prebendal School Chichester
2nd
Lt. Bernard Penfold
The First Six
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Prebendal School is the Chichester Cathedral choir school that can list its Head Masters back
as far as 1170. Of those 83 Head Masters at least three went onto greater things, teaching a
king and starting a new school in Winchester. John Holt, who was a friend of Thomas More
in the household of Archbishop Morton, was appointed Head Master of the school and then
head hunted to teach the young Prince Henry. Two years later, on his death, the next Head
Master, William Hone was appointed tutor to Henry and his sister Mary. Earlier, in 1384,
Romsey had moved from Prebendal to Winchester College to become the second
Wykehamist Headmaster.
It would seem, therefore, out of character for a well-established school to lack any significant
memorial to former pupils who gave their lives in the Great War. In the early 1920s a
memorial was erected in the Canons’ Vestry that was then the song school in the Cathedral.
The Canons’ Vestry wall is also the site where boys would sign their names in pencil as high
up as they could reach, whilst being lifted by other choristers. The one name that is clear to
read is C.J.Howard. Cyril James Howard attended the school from 1905 to 1909, joining the
Sussex Yeomanry in 1914. He was killed 8 November 1915 and is buried at Twelve Tree
Copse in Gallipoli. Curiously, the school history records that a former master of the school
was an army padre who was shelled whilst conducting a funeral on the Gallipoli peninsular;
after the benediction he helped bandage the wounded among the mourners.
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The memorial in the Canons’ Vestry and C.J.Howard’s graffiti.
In 2010 we started to research the evidence on the memorial, using the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission database (CWGC) and the Head Masters’ book. The latter is a register
that has been kept of every boy (girls from 1971) who attended the school. The book gives
key information of their full name, date of birth, date of entry, date left and their next of kin.
This book helped us identify the correct individual in the CWGC database because it gave the
full name and on occasions the next of kin matched as well.
It was also possible to track the Chichester Observer archives for these six boys as a number
were well known in Chichester and there were letters to the paper at the time.
The Head Masters’ book showing Penfold’s name.
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Penfold and St. Peter’s, Selsey
During this research process, the Head Masters’ book was on my desk during a lesson. A girl
called Matilda came to ask a question and enquired after the book. On hearing what the book
had been for she asked if she could look and read aloud a couple of names.
“Penfold, Bernard Hugh”. (135 Penfold, Bernard Hugh – Entered September 20th
1890 –
Born February 17th
1880 – Mr. Hugh Penfold of Selsey – left August 7th
1891).
This name instantly struck me as I attend St. Peter’s, Selsey on a Sunday and always sit
below a brass plaque commemorating, 2nd
Lt. Bernard Penfold of the Worcestershire and
Sherwood Foresters, killed on 22nd
October 1917.
The plaque in St. Peter’s, Selsey.
In addition, I was able to track down the St.Peter’s Parish News from December 1917 that
pays tribute to a valued member of their community.
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This meant that only the choristers are remembered on the Cathedral plaque in the Canons’
Vestry. Boys who had attended the school, who were not choristers had no memorial to their
name, only the Memorial Garden for all the fallen of the two World Wars. This garden was
donated to the school after the Second World War.
Using a group of pupils who were taught how to access information through the CWGC
website, we were able to take names from the Head Masters’ book to research the
Prebendalians more thoroughly. George Percy Edwards MC was the first find, killed 2
October 1918 with the Royal Field Artillery. As he was awarded the Military Cross there was
a strong likelihood that there may be a citations in the London Gazette. After a considerable
amount of searching through many Edwards in the London Gazette a lucky guess came up
with a perfect match in the Edinburgh Gazette. Further research would possibly indicate that
Percy won the Military Cross twice, yet this does need confirming.
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A considerable contribution to the Great War
All the initial research had relied on the use of the CWGC website, yet this in turn relied on
the individual being killed during the Great War. It was now necessary to use a website that
gave information of service. By putting every name into a number of search databases the
staff and pupils of Prebendal were able to establish that 74 boys served in the Great War, of
that number 19 lost their lives– this is an ‘attrition rate’ of 26%. The Prebendal School has
former pupils serving in nearly all theatres of the conflict on land, sea and in the air.
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Name DOB Rank Regiment Awards Place of Burial
Heather, Cecil Henry 10/04/1918
Royal Garrison Artillery
Northern France
Benham, Reginald Reuben
S/Sgt RAMC MID
Wilson, Walter Cecil
MC
Sadler, Robert
RNR
Bayley, James
Lt/Commander
Charles, Richard
Maj RAMC? OBE/MID
Hawes, Thomas Mitchell
Lt/Commander
Penfold, Bernard Hugh 22/10/1917 2nd Lt
Worcester and Sherwood
For.
Ypres, Tyne Cot
Baker, Archibald Samuel
Lt Col (or 2nd
Lt) ROAC (Royal Suffolk)
St M/St. G
MID
Sadler, Henry
2nd Lt Royal Sussex Regt. MC
Charles, RW
RAMC MID
Lloyd, Graham Eyre
2nd Lt (Capt) Tank Corps (RAMC) (MC)
Jefferey, Alfred Ernest
Guardsman
Silver
badge
Shippam, Wilfrid 04/03/1919 Pt
Influenza
Acton, Reginald George 09/05/1915 2nd Lt South Lancashire Regt 5Bn
Horscroft, Alfred Charles
Michael 12/03/1917
HMS Q19
Whiting, Walter Edward
C/Sgt Royal Marine Artillery
Skaife, Arthur Frederic 01/11/2014 Capt 1st Bn Middlesex Regt
Rue-David Cemetery,
Fleurbaix
Skaife, Eric Ommaney
A/Lt Col Royal Welch Fusiliers OBE/MID
Hubbert, Francis Stanley [W] 23/4/1915 2nd Lt East Yorkshire Regt
Ypres
Martin, Algernon 05/11/2018 L/Cpl Royal Sussex Regt. 7Bn
Moore, Arthur Gordon Wens[ley]
Lt. Col
Lemmon, Montague Hague 08/06/1915
Honourable Artillery
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Company
Edwards, George Percy 02/101918
MC
Ferris, Eric William George
Army Chaplain
Wheeler, Leonard Michael
RSN 4BN
Jerusalem
Stickels, Charles 08/11/1917
Cole CH
2nd Lt
DSM
Caffyn, Leslie John
Sgt
MSM
Coomber, Archibald Bertram
RAMC
Younghusband, Edward Walter
T/Lt Machine Gun Corps MID
Trowell, William Thomas
2nd Lt RSR 7BN
Willard, Alfred [E]
MIA
3/7/17 Lt RSR 7BN
Herrington, Cecil EE
Surgeon Lt
Ford, Colin Frederick
Flt. Sgt. RAF MSM/MM
Hayden, William Benjamin
RFC/6th Reserve sqn
Montrose (Sleepyhillock)
Angus
Arnell, Stuart Burton
2nd Lt Royal Hampshire Regt
Howard Cyril James 08/11/1915 L/Cpl Sussex Yeomanry
Kent, Keith Robert
Herrington, Percy Godfrey 15/02/2017 2nd Lt Royal Welch Fusiliers 8BN
Amara, Iraq
Jordan, Victor
2nd Lt
Suffolk Regt or Royal Field
Artillery (Gunner)
Thorowgood, Roland William
Theodore 07/08/1918 T/2nd Lt Royal Warwicks. Regt. MC Lys, Pas-de-Calais
Stone, Cyril Hurburt
?
Port of London authority
Royal Army Medical Corps
MC
MC/MID
Harris, George Gale 26/07/2017 T/2nd Lt Royal Field Artillery MC
Sheen, Harold Joseph
2nd Lt Royal Sussex Regt.
Lake, Cyril Dalton
Gunner Royal Garrison Artillery MM
Rands, Leslie Samuel
Flt Sub Lt Royal Naval Air Service
Manners, Herbert John 26/10/1917 Private Royal West Surrey Regt
Ypres, Tyne Cot
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2nd Bn
Manners, Frank Neal
Rifleman King's Rifle Corps 10Bn
Adam, William John
A/Lt Col
Major
DSO
Goff, Arthur Francis George
Ordinary
Seaman
Pierce, Percy John Emmerson 13/08/2018 Lt. RAF 19 Sqn
Martin, Leon
Fl Sub Lt Royal Naval Air Service
Osmand, William
Private Buffs
Catt, Philip Herbert
2nd Lt Scots Guards
Coutts, [Jan] George
2nd Lt RAF 84th Sqn MID
Paige, Edward
Private RAF labourer
Chitty, Denis Charles 24/08/1919
Royal Field Artillery
North Munden churchyard
Richards, Ronald Sendall 06/11/2017
1/4 Royal Sussex Regt.
Egypt
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Furthermore, during the initial research it was surprising that the boys were mainly in the
ranks, whereas an assumption could have been drawn that as most boys went onto public
schools, more officers would have been in the list. As is now apparent, many were officers,
including two Lieutenant Colonels. Moreover, considering the number of gallantry awards
that were won in the Great War, the initial six were not listed with any. However, as the story
unfolded, the awards started to trickle in and then almost cascade, if you include those
mentioned in despatches.
Remembering not just the dead.
Remembrance often focusses on those who lost their lives, yet in this research it was felt to
be of equal or even more importance to focus on those who came back. The many family
losses of the Great War; the hope of the interwar years; the struggles of the Second World
War and finally the creativity hopes and dreams of the post war era.
For this, one family embodies the spirit of 1914. Arthur and Eric Skaife were the sons of a
physician who lived in North Street House in Chichester. The boys attended Prebendal
School in January 1893, aged 10 and 9 years old respectively, before going on to Winchester
College. Both boys volunteered in 1914, Arthur for the Middlesex Regiment and Eric in the
2nd
Btn, Royal Welch Fusiliers. These regiments were among the first among the BEF to be
sent to France and Belgium. Then tragedy struck the family when they were informed that
both boys had been killed in action. Eric was posted as killed in action, reported in the ‘North
Wales Chronicle and Advertiser’ on Friday 30 October 1914. Arthur had been killed fighting
in the Aubers and Fromelles area on 1 November.
Skaife – Killed in action on the 19th
inst. Captain Eric Ommanney Skaife, Royal Welsh
Fusiliers, aged 30, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Skaife, Chichester. (North Wales Chronicle
and Advertiser)
Then by 5 August 1915 the Flintshire Observer reports an article entitled ‘Prisoners better lot
in Germany’ in which Capt. Eric Skaife has turned up again, alive. He had been wounded and
taken prisoner and was to spend the next three years as a POW.
Sir Eric Skaife originally joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1903, rising to the rank of
Captain by 1914. After being wounded in October he spent time in a German military
hospital and then served out the war as a prisoner in Germany, where conditions were
reported in the Welsh provincial papers. The officers were making the best of it, filling their
hours with theatre and study. Eric, pursued his passion for languages by improving his Welsh
and learning Russian. These two languages would be invaluable to him during the inter-war
years and beyond.
At the end of the war he was promoted to Major and awarded the Order of the British Empire
(OBE), to add to his ‘mention in despatches’. He then served in the war office and
Waziristan, returning to his regiment in 1929 as Lieutenant Colonel. Because Eric was
proficient in Russian he was appointed as military attaché to Moscow from 1934 to 1937.
This raises the question, did he ever meet Joseph Stalin? He then served in the Russian
department of the Foreign Office from 1941 to 1944. He published A short history of the
Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1929. During retirement, Sir Eric was a keen eisteddfodwr,
becoming vice-president in 1942. He died in 1956 during the Scottish Mod, and he is buried
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in Brithdir, Wales. His headstone reads ‘ My heart was in Wales- and in her soil are my
remains’.
Conclusion
The aim of the project was to establish the war record of Prebendalians. It was suspected
from the outset that there would be more than just the initial six. However, in this ongoing
research, it is becoming clear that Prebendal School conforms to the model cited by John
Lewis-Stempel, in ‘Six Weeks’ who maintains that the contribution by Independent school
volunteers during the Great War was considerable, yet this should not be measured by the
number of names on the school war memorial, but also through the lives of those who
returned and their contribution to the ‘new world’ that emerged from the tragedy and sorrow,
adventure and ultimate victory of 1918.
We as a school intend to continue this research to fill in the gaps that are clear through the
Second World War and through the twentieth century.