The BSA Book of Remembrance – Uncovered and Remembered

In conversation with Robin Fletcher, the CEO of The Boarding School Association. Hear how he wanted to create a portal to remember the people who lost their lives for the countries they served, from Boarding Schools around the world.

www.Bobor.org.uk is an online permanent record built by The SDS Group which  honours pupils, staff, and volunteers from boarding schools who served, sacrificed, or supported national efforts during times of war. 

The archive spans conflicts from the First and Second World Wars to earlier battles such as Trafalgar and Waterloo, as well as more recent conflicts.

With over 100 schools across the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA contributing, BOBOR continues to grow each month. 

Web: 

www.bobor.org.uk

www.talesfromthearchives.co.uk

www.sds-group.co.uk

Social Media:

Insta: @katesds_chronicle

Sound Credits:

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Extraordinary and fascinating archives online!

Transcript

SDS Kate 0:06

Welcome to our second episode in a festive series special. My name is Kate, and each episode are we taking a deep dive into the fascinating world of archives. This festive season, we have to remember our service men and women, and in this season's episode, we turn our play and we glide southward towards the iconic white cliffs of Dover. Here we pause and settle among the poppies, a place of reflection, remembrance, and deep gratitude. It's here that we open the boarding school's Book of Remembrance, an archive that honours the lives, the courage, and the sacrifice of former pupils and teachers who served in times of conflict. We are delighted to be joined by Robin Fletcher, CEO of the BSA Group and Director of the Boarding School Book of Remembrance website project. Hello, Robin. Thank you so much for talking with me today.

Robin Fletcher 1:15

Thank you very much indeed. It's a pleasure to be with you. Thank you.

SDS Kate 1:18

So, um, what was your vision and inspiration behind the Book of Remembrance and the Bobor Project?

Robin Fletcher 1:24

Well, it came really from two anniversaries, um, which over time will disappear into the past. But we were approaching the 60th anniversary of BSA, uh, and we've we realized that that coincided with the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Uh, and uh we thought, well, is there a way of bringing those two things together uh with a project which could endure way beyond uh those those dates, if you like, but but at least then uh you know give us some two two milestones at which to which to mark things. And um the the you know, our audience are boarding schools, and boarding schools have historically played a huge contribution through uh service. Um and uh you know that's that's that's well known. And we thought, well, if we could if we could bring all those things together in a project for boarding schools across the world, uh that would be a starting point. And and those who know me will have seen that that was you know, two lines on a post-it note, and then I sort of handed it over to various people, and here we are now. So uh that that that was the origin of it. It wasn't particularly sophisticated, but that was the sort of germ of the idea, if that makes sense.

SDS Kate 2:37

Right. Okay, brilliant. And so Bobor is not just about the first and second world war, is it?

Robin Fletcher 2:44

No, uh and some people interpret it as that because inevitably when you talk about roles of honour, people very quickly point to the world wars. But it it's essentially a place where any boarding school in the world can record the service of staff or pupils or volunteers or governors or anybody uh you know, remotely connected with that space. Now, that could be someone who literally put on a uniform, served in one of the great wars, and unfortunately lost their lives. But it it could equally be. And if we'll take you know the great Winston Churchill as an example, you know, he he had been a soldier, but but he's mainly known for being a politician during a period of war. He didn't lose his life, but he went to boarding school. And and Bobor needs to record the contribution of people like him or Alan Turing, who went to Sherborne Boys' School and created the computer which you know uh cracked the enigma uh machine and contributed to saving lives, but he didn't put on a uniform and he didn't die in conflict. So we've we've deliberately made it very, very broad so that it isn't just two conflicts, it could be a very recent conflict like the Middle East, or it could be, you know, we've got some schools whose history goes back hundreds of years, so it it could go back to something way before the First World War. And it may well be that it could be someone who you know served in a political capacity as a you know cabinet member to for defense in between two conflicts. But the point of the matter is if they went to boarding school or had a connection with it and they've served in however however you wish to define service, they would they they would qualify for an entry in BOBOR. So it's as border as long as it's deep if you yeah, really is.

SDS Kate 4:34

Um so um you must be very proud. There's honorary patrons that wish to be associated with the Bobo project as well.

Robin Fletcher 4:42

Yes, I mean we thought it would be not unhelpful to get some support from from senior people, some of whom uh you know are serving, uh still serving in the mirror uh in the military. We have uh Air Vice Marshal Saraya Marshall, who went to boarding school, and she's currently, I think, number two or number three in the REF. And we have General Sir Tim Radford, who's now retired. He was a boarder at rugby, and he was Deputy Supreme Uh Commander Europe. And we approach these people, and they don't have to do anything, but they occasionally open doors for us or do a little bit of gentle banging of the Bobor drum. Uh and and it and it's helpful, and it's it's always nice to have a list of distinguished people supporting your projects. Not uh and whenever we've approached people on this, they've immediately said yes. I mean, after asking if is there any money or work involved, uh they very quickly say yes, we're happy to support this in any way we can. And we and we've even now got a retired US general on that, and we've got the former head of the Canadian Armed Services. Uh global. Yes, because Bobar is not just uh a UK thing, British thing, or a Commonwealth thing, or an Empire thing. It it it it has wings to be global.

SDS Kate 5:53

Yes.

Robin Fletcher 5:54

And we're always on the hunt for uh more eminent people. We're occasionally approaching them. I keep being refused by the former head of the New Zealand uh defence services who's time at the leading uh running a council in in uh in Marlborough in New Zealand, and he keeps resisting my uh my approaches, but at some point I shall crack that nut. Yeah, and it's it's nice to bring in senior, senior distinguished people who who who in themselves think this is a good project. I mean, if you can create a project, I always say when when nobody can argue against it, I think you're in the right place. Yeah, and you can't really argue against this.

SDS Kate 6:31

No, no, not um so um I was fascinated by all the courageous women um from the girls' boarding school, yeah um, which features on the site, and um such as Lettu Curtis, amazing, and Jean Mariador from Benedict.

Robin Fletcher 6:48

Well, Jean Mariador, of course, actually was a French man who who who who flew a plane and he spotted a German doodle doodle bug about to land on Benedon, and uh he Oh, I see that's the connection, right? Uh and and he he sacrificed his life in in steering the bomb away from the school. So there's someone who who've got no other connection with the school other than the fact he happened to be flying a Spitfire plane and spotted a bomb about to land on a girl's school and Benedon honour him and associates. Oh, I see. But uh but you mentioned Lettus Curtis. I mean, there are so many women uh you know during that particular conflict who who aren't mentioned as readily uh as some of the men, shall we say. And you know, Lettus Curtis essentially, you know, was transporting planes around, you know, which was a uh an absolutely crucial thing for people to do, doing some pioneering stuff, you know, flying four-engined um planes uh at a time when she was very much a test pilot for that. And what's what's great about her story is well after the war, she was like still gaining a helicopter license when she was in her 80s. I mean, I'd have loved to have I've loved to have met her to get because you know, an extraordinary woman. And you know, we we will in time have stories, you know, I'm sure we'll have a Quaker school join at one point where, you know, because of their beliefs, they won't have they won't have taken part militarily, but they will have been, you know, ambulance drivers or stretcher bearers and things like that. Or I'm sure there'll be you know women who were parachuted behind the lines as members of SOE during the war. You know, you're going to have all these richness of stories that come back. So that really on what on one hand, and I think we've got about 10,000 names on Bobor already, you you can just see it as a list, or a school may decide to actually put forward a rich story about the person concerned, so they're not just a name on a list. And and uh one of the the hallmarks of of Bobor is you could have a school which has got a you know richly developed digital archive, probably developed for them by the by SDS, to be honest. So that can be imported and it's lots of bells and whistles, or or in some cases you may have a school saying, Well, we've got a box with a couple of photographs. Is that okay? Yes, it's it's all okay. Yeah, because it's all contributing to telling the story. And I don't suppose we're pretending that the contribution of people who were associated with boarding schools is somehow better, but there is a a theme of people who are connected with boarding schools, and and why not why not tell that story? And if bow war can play a part in doing that, we're we're we're pleased that it that it that it does.

SDS Kate 9:28

It can. So on that, um, I think while reading the role of honour, I found a personal account from Christmas 1940 from a person called Edward Claude Borman from Cranleigh School. Right. Um and he's listed as civilian war casualty, but um he did previously um serve in the RTE during the World War I, and I'm gonna read that account at the end. Um, but um the entry is very similar to many others. It incorporates detailed wartime experiences, which I believe really distinguishes uh Bobo from other sources.

Robin Fletcher 10:06

Yes, I mean, uh you know, these are people who who in extraordinary time did extraordinary things, and sometimes in a very sort of bemedded way, where they were garlanded with honours for being heroic, and sometimes, you know, it may well have been someone who was doing something very much behind the lines, or as a civil servant, or as a volunteer, or or whatever, but they were still contributing. Uh, and and I think you know, if if if Bobel can can bring to life those stories, um, I mean, it's interesting you say distinguish it from others. You usually when you're launching a product and service, you do a very detailed check on the competition to see how different you can be. I I I I through all this, I've never looked at what anyone else is doing.

SDS Kate 10:50

Right.

Robin Fletcher 10:51

Um and and uh partly because I knew nobody else would be doing this, but even if there was, I mean, a lot of the names on mobile will also appear on lots of other, you know, physical or digital on you know, roles of honor, to which I'd say, well, that's fantastic. You know, may there be many places where the names of people who've contributed are recorded, but what we're saying is if they've got some sort of connection with the boarding school, right, or or or with a school that used to be a boarding school or or whatever it was, that qualifies. And that's anywhere in the world, any conflict. It could even be, you know, we we're probably not far away from having schools join where you know the two people on the rolls of honor were actually fighting each other. You know, that's possibly because because the BSA has members right the way across the world. We have we have members in Germany, for instance, we have members in Vietnam, we have members in Australia. At some point, we're gonna have people who who are on both sides of the same conflict. And it's interesting in talking to our honorary patrons, you know, we said, How do you feel about that? And and their very fast response is if they were serving their country, it doesn't matter which side they were on.

SDS Kate 11:57

Yeah.

Robin Fletcher 11:57

And and you know, if people have an issue with that. So I suppose if you look at some of the current conflicts, you know, we we have a member school in Russia, I don't know whether we've got one in Ukraine, but if we had one in you know Palestine and Israel, what would you know, would would there be sensitivities about that? Maybe for others, that wouldn't be for us because if they've been connected with boarding and they've served, you can sometimes be on the wrong side. A good example of that is Episcopal High School in Washington, DC, who've joined, and I haven't checked to see whether they've uploaded their their details yet, but they've got a an American Civil War roll of honor. Uh and unfortunately, they're now deemed in the US to having been on the wrong side. Uh there's been quite a lot of activity in the states of taking down statues of people who've deemed to be on the wrong side.

SDS Kate 12:44

Right.

Robin Fletcher 12:45

And the principal of that school was concerned about that. You know, would that be an issue for Bobo? No. They they were at a boarding school, they served in a conflict, probably had no choice. And you know, if history has now said you were on the wrong side, I mean, it it starts getting complicated if it was someone from a boarding school who's now been declared a war criminal. I mean, you know, we might have to think about that a bit. But in general terms, if you served, you know, Bobor is the place where we would try to record that in the appropriate way. And we've yet said we've yet to have somebody, you know, you know, well, what about this name? It turns out they're a traitor. Well, okay, well, we'll we'll deal with that. But yeah, I think inclusivity has been one of the Boborr's watchwords from the start. Let's try to include as much as as much as much as possible, as many schools as possible, as many people as possible, and until it becomes obviously inappropriate. And in which case we would then you know take a sensitive decision, I think. But um, yeah, so what all all these all these things are coming out, and yeah, it's actually quite it's a bit like planting an acorn, I suppose, and that's a that's a cliche. You know, so long as SDS and BSA exist, let's assume, and the technology allows us to exist, Bobo could be there in a century, long after any of us. You know, you know, our names might be on a little roll somewhere. Uh, and if in a in a century's time there are 500 schools on it and a hundred thousand names, and you know, maybe of conflicts that haven't even happened yet, that's got to be a good thing.

SDS Kate 14:17

Yeah.

Robin Fletcher 14:17

I think. Uh and and you know, that was what was in our head a little bit when we started off.

SDS Kate 14:22

Oh, amazing. Well, it has been truly interesting and quite a moving experience um to go through the Bobo um portal. Um, so thank you very much for taking the time to go through the Book of Remembrance website with us today.

Robin Fletcher 14:37

Well, well, thank you very much indeed for asking me to do so. And can I also, you know, thank SDS for its part because it was one thing, someone like me having an idea, but the enabler, the deliverer of this has been SDS. We couldn't have done this on our own. And so we're incredibly grateful for support of Mark and the yourself and the SDS team for for all you're doing to support Bobor. It's incredibly important work, so thank you.

SDS Kate 15:00

Amazing. Thank you. Uh thanks, Robin. Bye bye bye.

Christmas 1940: A Personal Account Edward Claude Borman, Cranleigh School

SDS Kate 15:03

On the twenty-third of December nineteen forty, Manchester endured the height of the Christmas Blitz. Among those recorded on the Bobour Portal was Edward Claude Bormann. He lost his life that day, age fifty-seven. He had previously served in the Royal Engineers during the First World War, and his school years were spent at Cranley School. The transcript says It is now Monday night, December the twenty-third, and the Germans have returned at 7 pm with another blitz on Manchester. We can already see more fires raging and the guns are deafening. It is terrible. And only one night before Christmas Eve. I don't know what Manchester will look like tomorrow. On Tuesday, we are expecting our Harry and Nora to stay with us for Christmas. They arrived in Manchester on Monday, just in time to be caught in the raid. They spent a terrible night in the shelter under the newspaper offices. All the windows were blown out of the building above them during the night. They got a lift on a lorry to Middleton the next morning. Harry said it would break my heart if I saw Manchester now. Salford and Stretford also suffered very badly along with Manchester. The death toll is very heavy. After giving us four bad nights, they let us have a quiet Christmas. We would like to thank Robin Fletcher from the BSA Group. If you would like to see more from the Bobo Project, visit www.boar.org.uk or indeed from the BSA Group, visit www.boarding.org.uk. And for this and more stories, visit www.tales from the archives.co.uk and I'll catch you next time for another Christmas podcast.