Charles Hudson (The Green, 1905-1910) was Sherborne’s highest decorated soldier of WW1. His actions as a platoon commander at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 had resulted in him being awarded a Military Cross and a French Croix de Guerre. In 1917, he again distinguished himself at both Messines Ridge and at Passchendaele gaining … Read more
Two of the fifty-five Blues who died in conflict in 1917 have been chosen as ‘Varsity Match Icons’ for the 2017 Varsity Match fixture: John Argentine Campbell who attended Fettes College and Trinity College, Cambridge, and Old Shirburnian, Cecil Douglas Baker: ‘Nor love thy life nor hate; but what thou liv’st Live well – how … Read more
When Alan Turing’s school friend Christopher Morcom died aged 18 in February 1930, Alan wrote to his mother saying, ‘I feel sure that I shall meet Morcom again somewhere & that there will be some work for us to do together, as I believed there was for us to do here.’ Two years after Christopher … Read more
Experiences in the Royal Flying Corps by Lieutenant Antony Henry Whitford-Hawkey (1899-1918) (The Green, September 1913-20 June 1917). Published in The Shirburnian, November 1917. When I left Sherborne to join the R.F.C. last summer term just before Commemoration I little thought what lay before me. I had visions of getting into a ‘bus and doing loops, … Read more
Between the 27 May and 4 June 1940, 338,226 British and allied soldiers were evacuated from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk. Codenamed ‘Operation Dynamo’, the evacuation was the mastermind of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay. ‘The Ferryman’, a patriotic poem written by Sir Alan Patrick Herbert, celebrated the achievements of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay and the … Read more
The 21 July 2017 sees the UK release of Christopher Nolan’s film, Dunkirk, starring Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance and Harry Styles. Watch the Warner Bros. official trailer on youtube. Between the 27 May and 4 June 1940, 338,226 British and allied soldiers were evacuated during ‘Operation Dynamo’ from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk. However, … Read more
On 1 July 2016, Sherborne School will commemorate eight of its former pupils who died in the fighting on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Henry Robinson King, a Classics teacher at Sherborne School, described the 1 July 1916 in his diary as ‘Cold and objectionable till 4, then fine. Watched some … Read more
The OSS and the School have recently been contacted by David Sheppard’s daughter, Jenny Sinclair, to ask for our help with the research and biography project on David’s remarkable life. We are, of course, delighted to offer any help that we can through our archive material and assisting contact with David’s contemporaries. There are many … Read more
In memory of the comedian, singer and actor Lance Percival who died on 6 January 2015 we have reproduced here an interview made with Lance in May 2000 and published in The Shirburnian. John Lancelot Blades Percival came to Sherborne in April 1947 from Earlywood School, Ascot. A member of School House, he became a House Prefect … Read more
Benedict Cumberbatch may have gone to Harrow, but his father, the actor Timothy Carlton, came to Sherborne! During his time at Sherborne, Timothy Carlton Congdon Cumberbatch (g 1953-1958) rubbed shoulders with the nephews of Alan Turing’s school friend, Christopher Morcom, and decided that he wanted to become a professional actor. Read Sherborne’s Turing-Cumberbatch Connection to … Read more