Nowadays, army children are taught in proper schools, by proper teachers, and sit proper exams that, if passed, will give them recognised qualifications that will help them to progress in the world. Yet during the early seventeenth century, the only schooling that the sons and daughters of non-commissioned officers would have received was in cursing and fending for themselves and, if they were girls, making themselves useful by washing and sewing for their father's soldier comrades. Although regimental schools were increasingly being established, with senior non-commissioned officers initially doing the teaching, these were originally intended to teach illiterate recruits how to read, write and calculate. But then because many of those illiterate recruits were army children, the realisation dawned that the regimental schools might as well start teaching these soldiers-in-the-making, and their future wives (for many army daughters later 'married into' the regiment) while they were still young. And occupying army children with schoolwork and needlework also had the advantage of keeping them out of trouble!
By the nineteenth century, regimental schools catering for army children and teaching a wide range of subjects (practical, as well as academic) were relatively commonplace, and in this respect, the army was ahead of its time. The regimental schools were replaced by garrison schools in 1887, and administrative changes have continued to be made in response to changing times, with the British Families Education Service (BFES) being set up to educate army children in Germany in the aftermath of World War II, for instance. Today, the schooling of army children abroad is provided by Service Children's Education (SCE), and when in Britain, army children attend local schools, that is, unless they are at boarding school.
Officers' children may always have received an education appropriate to their perceived status, but at the price of separation from their parents (often for years on end), for they were generally sent to a boarding establishment, be it a public school, a ladies' academy or a finishing school, in Britain. In addition, there were military boarding schools: the Royal Hibernian Military School (RHMS), established in 1769 in Dublin, Ireland, and the Royal Military Asylum (RMA), founded in 1801 in Chelsea, London, and today known as the Duke of York's Royal Military School in Dover, Kent. It has now been decades since all army children have been able to enjoy the (dubious) privilege of a boarding-school education, thanks to a boarding school allowance and subsidised flights to join their parents during the holidays. Indeed, the agonising decision as to whether to sacrifice family togetherness in favour of the undoubted benefits of stability and continuity of curricula during crucial pre-GCSE and A' level years is one that all peripatetic army families must continue to take.
PERSONAL STORY: GOING TO SCHOOL ON BOARD A TROOPSHIP, AS WELL AS IN GERMANY, HONG KONG, WALES, PLYMOUTH, SINGAPORE, SOUTHAMPTON AND CYPRUS
Because this army child's father was in the Royal Artillery, she and her sister went to school all over the world, and even at sea.
My father was 868780 WOII Joseph Barnes Fox. My sister, Beryl, and I travelled with our parents to all his postings. My first 'army school' was in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, in the early 1950s. After that, we were stationed in Hong Kong, where I attended Gun Club School and my sister went to Whitfield Barracks School, in Nathan Road. We then went to school on board the troopship MV Devonshire.
We next went to school in Wales whilst my father was stationed at Court y Gothlen, near Crickhowell. Then it was to Plymouth, where my father was based at the Citadel on Plymouth Hoe. Thereafter it was to Singapore, aboard a troopship. From Singapore, we travelled back to Southampton, where my father became a sailor/soldier escorting regiments to and fro aboard the troopship Oxfordshire. Next was Cyprus, where I attended, along with my sister, St John's School, Episkopi. I left school here and had a job on the camp.
We returned to the UK aboard the MV Devonshire. Next, we moved to Sennelager, in Germany. I worked for 30 Field Ambulance and my sister went to school in Gütersloh. It was now 1964, and my father had a heart attack at the age of 48 and sadly died. He is buried in the military cemetery at Hanover. His funeral was a big occasion and was attended by many of his friends and colleagues from his postings all over the world. SSAFA was very kind to my mother and helped us tremendously as a family to return to the UK. I myself now work for SSAFA as a caseworker.
Thelma Jean Marshall (née Fox, b.1946).
MEMORY: BOARDING IN BROADSTAIRS
This army child had already attended five primary schools before the age of eight when, in
'January 1969, I, the eldest of two brothers, was left at Hildersham House, Broadstairs, Kent, just prior to my father's post-staff-college posting to Malta. One of several Victorian institutions set up on the east Kent coast, the school had not changed much since its establishment by the then headmaster's grandfather in the late 19th century.
The first day as a 7-year-old was somewhat bewildering, not least as several boys were crying with homesickness. Wrought-iron bedsteads surrounded the perimeter of purpose-built 20-person dormitories with a central isle of hand basins, which were filled each morning from metal jugs by 12-/13-year-olds for morning washing.
Dormitory antics were punished by cane or gym shoe, but escape committees and end-of-term dormitory feasts of corned beef and sweets, carefully smuggled in and hidden under floorboards, gave the prison-like discipline at least an edge of excitement.
Prayers that the school would burn down or close down were finally answered in 1971 with a letter to parents. In order to try to compete in an era of falling demand for boarding places, the school had offered reduced fees to sons of the army, which, it seems, were not financially viable.'
KW (b.1961).
Hildersham House (above), in Broadstairs, Kent, and one of the dormitories that KW recalls there (below).
LINKS
The following links relating to the education of army children over the centuries may be of interest.
- The wide-ranging Delta Tech Systems website presents in-depth information about army education during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. You can also read about the histories of the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea (today the Duke of York's Royal Military School in Dover), and the Royal Hibernian Military School, Dublin, here, as well as follow links to related websites like: http://www.rma-searcher.co.uk. Visit: http://www.achart.ca
- Service Children's Education (SCE), an agency of the MoD, is dedicated to the education of the children of service families and MoD personnel serving outside of the United Kingdom, providing education from foundation stage through to the sixth form. For further information, visit: http://www.sceschools.com
- The BFES-SCE Association is open to all who have worked with service children's education abroad. Visit its website at http://www.bfes-sce-association.co.uk, and on its 'Links' page you'll find a list of websites dedicated to schools in Malta, Asia and Germany.
- The archives of the Institute of Education, University of London, hold records of the British Families Education Service (BFES)/Service Children's Education (SCE) Association, 1947-2000. For further details, visit: http://www.ioe.ac.uk/library/archives/bfe.htm
- The Alexandra Grammar website is aimed at former forces' children who attended British forces' schools in Singapore from 1945 onwards. These include schools at the Royal Air Force stations at Tengah, Changi and Seletar; the army bases at Tanglin, Nee Soon and Gillman; the naval base, HMS Terror; as well as some schools in mainland Malaya/Malaysia. Visit it at: http://www.alexandragrammar.org or http://www.britschools-singapore.org
- St George's School, a school for British forces' children in Hong Kong, closed in 1996. A website devoted to it includes photo galleries and forums. Explore it at: http://www.saintgeorges-hk.com
- Slim School, in Malaya's (now Malaysia's) Cameron Highlands, was a boarding school that educated army children between 1951 and 1964. Visit www.slimschoolmalaya.com/maingate.htm to learn more about the school, and, if you went there, to make contact with past pupils and teachers.
- Although called the Royal Naval School Tal-Handaq, and run by the Royal Navy, this secondary school in Tal-Handaq, Malta, also educated army children from 1947 until 1978. A nostalgic gallery of photographs can be viewed at: http://www.talhandaqnostalgia.org. Recent images of the school (now the Liceo Vassalli) can be seen at: http://www.tal-handaq.co.uk
- Prince Rupert School (PRS), for the children of British armed forces and Control Commission personnel, was based at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, between 1947 and 1972, and is thought to have been the first comprehensive, co-educational boarding school established under the terms of the 1944 Education Act. Follow this link to read a history of the school: http://www.prs-wilhelmshaven.co.uk/open/school20.htm; to become a member (if you went to the school) and access the rest of the The Wilhelmshaven Association (TWA) website, visit: http://www.prs-wilhelmshaven.co.uk. In 1972, PRS moved to Rinteln, Germany, where it remains; follow this link for the Prince Rupert School Reunion Website: http://prs.jwarburton.com, and this one for details of Prince Rupert School today: http://www.princerupert.de/index.htm
- King Alfred School, Plön, was a co-educational boarding school that educated forces (and Control Commission) children in Germany between 1948 and 1959. You can read about it on the Wyvern Club's website. See: http://www.kas-ploen.org.uk/overview.htm
- The Windsor Society's members are former army children who went to Windsor School, Windsor Girls' School and Windsor Boys' School in Hamm, Germany, between 1953 and 1983. Its website presents information and photographs pertaining to the history of these schools. Visit it at: http://www.windsorsociety.org.uk/index.htm
- Queen's School educated army children in Rheindahlen, Germany, between 1955 and 1987. The Queen's School (Rheindahlen) Association's website, at http://www.queensschoolrheindahlenassociation.co.uk, which is aimed at reuniting former pupils and staff, gives a brief history of the school.
- The Kent School Association website is dedicated to maintaining contact between former pupils of Kent School in Hostert, Germany, which educated army children between 1969 and 1987. It also gives an overview of the school's history. See: http://www.kent-school.co.uk
- The Ex Forces Kids Network's website encourages contact between former forces children through its forums. So far over 150 forces schools have been listed, each with its own forum and photo gallery. Visit http://www.efkn.co.uk or http://www.efkn.com to learn more and maybe become a member.
- Ex British Forces Kids is an online, public-access-restricted club open to former army children (and their teachers and parents) who attended BFES schools around the world. It can be accessed at http://groups.msn.com/ExBritishForcesKids and its sister site, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/exbritishforceskids2
TACA SCHOOLING ALBUM: GIBRALTAR
TO READ A SUMMARY OF DR GRACE CLIFTON'S RESEARCH INTO THE EXPERIENCE OF EDUCATION OF THE ARMY CHILD, CLICK HERE.
