Page 39 - OM Newsletter 2024-2025

Malvern at Harrow notice board
A contemporary account in The Malvernian of June 1945 captured the complexity of emotions felt on that historic day:
“ As the years pass and our School memories grow dim, as they inevitably must, one day will standout vividly in our minds. On the 8th of May the war in Europe came to an end and the announcement that peace had come at last produced in the School an atmosphere never to be forgotten. For days we had been waiting for this news to arrive and everybody had his plans; but somehow when it came a certain air of bewilderment hung over us, and it was with mixed emotions that we went into school as usual. With this over the whole School gathered in chapel for an immediate act of thanksgiving. In the evening a concert was held in Speech Room, and afterwards everybody went out either to watch the Harrow bonfire and fireworks or join in the rejoicings elsewhere. But it was not perhaps until the moon shone down on quiet streets and fields that we began to realise to the full the meaning of this momentous event. The war in Europe was over and men would be free to live and enjoy the blessings of peace once more. And in the quiet of the early morning we remembered those Malvernians who had dedicated their lives to the cause of freedom and peace. In a few hours a new day would dawn and with it we would begin the task of building a better world to serve as an everlasting memorial to all who died that we might live. ”
Eighty years on, Malvern College continues to honour the memory of its wartime community - those who served, those who sacrificed, and those who ensured the spirit of the College endured through the most difficult of times.
Further information
Copies of the school newsletter,
The Malvernian, as well as photos and books from this time, can be found in the Malvern College digital archive. Scan the QR code to start exploring.
Malvern at Harrow House 8
Malvern at Harrow School House
Malvern at Harrow The Science School
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