Page 17 - Oundle Life March 2024

OUNDLE’S
HEROES
We will remember them
The Chapel of St Anthony is one of the most beautiful buildings in Oundle, but not everyone realises who it was built to commemorate or why.
Consecrated by the Bishop of Peterborough in 1923, the chapel stands in memory of the 960 former pupils and staff members of Oundle School who served with such distinction
in the Great War. Between them, they won
202 decorations, including no fewer than
three Victoria crosses – the highest
decoration in the entire British honours system.
The former pupils and staff members
fought in every theatre of the war,
from the Western front to Singapore,
and they fought on land, at sea, and in the air. Their ranks ranged from Private to Brigadier General. The oldest man to die was 45, while the youngest was just 17.
Acts of heroism and gallantry were published in Despatches during the war, and it was considered a great honour to be personally
The oldest man to die was 45
named. Former pupils and staff of Oundle School were mentioned no fewer than 111 times; yet another measure of the outstanding bravery that had its seeds in the school itself.
Such bravery comes with a heavy price. Of the 960 Old Boys who served their country in the First World War, 221 sacrificed their lives to the cause. Of those, 87 have no known grave. But they are all remembered
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