There has been steady, notable achievement for individual and team chess players at Oundle, with pupils winning county competitions and qualifying for national finals.

Oundle currently sits at the top of the Northamptonshire County League Division 2, with three wins, two draws and one loss and with only two matches left to play. There have been some good individual performances from William Connellan (L), Kyle Lo (Ldr), James Low (L) and Joseph Meisner (L).

Earlier in the year, two teams competed in the regional heats of the National Senior Schools competition in Grantham, where they finished runners-up.

Sam Herring (L) has continued to impress with his results, and during the summer came an impressive 4th place in the Open Section of the British Championships. He has also just won the County U18 championships.

Outside of competition and as part of the Community Action programme, Kyle Lo and Adithya Menon (L) are running a biweekly chess club at the public library in Oundle, and Sam Herring is assisting in the coaching of Year 2 pupils at LJS.

The Head presented Sports Colours to pupils at an assembly marking the start of the Trinity Quarter.

Sports Colours are awarded to pupils for excellent contribution to a recognised School sport. The awards are presented in the Sixth Form, although for exceptional performance they may be awarded to younger years. In order to qualify for an award, pupils must demonstrate qualities of good sportsmanship in addition to outstanding performance.

For performances in Cricket, Athletics, Tennis and Rowing, the Head presented 12 full Colours. The full list of awards can be viewed below.

• Michaelmas Colours
•  

The Head presented Sports Colours to pupils at an assembly marking the start of the Easter Quarter.

Sports Colours are awarded to pupils for excellent contribution to a recognised School sport. The awards are presented in the Sixth Form, although for exceptional performance they may be awarded to younger years. In order to qualify for an award, pupils must demonstrate qualities of good sportsmanship in addition to outstanding performance.

For performances in Sailing, Hockey and Rugby, the Head presented 22 full Colours. The full list of awards can be viewed below.

• Easter Colour Awards | PDF
•  

The 1st XI hockey faced Oakham at the weekend. Games aren’t easy on the midlands circuit, and things weren’t getting any easier with a local derby. With Oakham scoring early, Oundle was chasing the game. Charlie Field (Sc) converted a penalty flick, only for Oakham to come-back again to take the lead. Oundle were susceptible to conceding too easily, allowing Oakham to get on the front foot far too easily. Skipper Charlie Field came to the rescue again, however, putting away an inch-perfect reverse stick hit at an almost impossible angle. Oakham, in the professional groove they were in all game, performed a clinical short corner routine to make it 3-2 at half-time. 

This was all before half time! Periods of the second half were very cagey, with Oundle enjoying a healthy amount of possession but just unable to put away opportunities. Another short corner to Oakham brought another goal, confirming victory over their local rival. 

The 1st XI football team lost 3-2 against King's Ely. Although the margin of this defeat was identical to last weekend's against Rugby, its manner was very much different.

While last week's performance was lacklustre, on Saturday, Oundle put in a very good performance, looking full of appetite to win challenges and creating a multitude of potential goal scoring chances. Despite going 1-0 down early in the first half against the run of play, Oundle totally dominated the half, and finally this command in the game paid off with Denis Valkov (S) at last converting one of Oundle's many opportunities to level the game at 1-1. 

After half time, King's Ely worked their way back into the game and found themselves 3-1 up with 20 minutes to play. Despite Oundle mounting attack after attack, King's Ely held out until five minutes from the end, when Joe Green (B) converted from close range. Sadly it was too little too late, and, after the King's Ely goalkeeper made an impressive save at the death, the game finished 3-2 to King's Ely. 

Although this defeat was disappointing, Oundle's performance combined with an excellent 7-2 victory against Prince William School on Tuesday in which Freddie Howard (S) scored a hat trick, provide plenty of reasons to be optimistic for the remainder of the season. 

Oundle’s mixed badminton team had an intense match against Stamford on Tuesday. The 1st team, despite the high level of effort, lost tightly (8-10) to a well-equipped Stamford side, and the 2nds lost to the away team (6-12).

The first team excelled in the singles games, both girls and boys 1st players won their matches respectfully (21-8) and (21-12).  However, the doubles had unsuccessful games in the 1st team, losing three out of the four games played. The mixed pairs had varied results winning only half of their games. Nevertheless, it was a solid effort and the team was still doing very well. 
Too often have they been in match-winning positions and let it go at a vital turning point. An emphasis on high-pressured, game situations is perhaps needed in the coming weeks of training.

Tuesday also the squash 1st V play away at Stowe. An inexperienced team, with two debutantes, Phillip James (L) and Freddie Woodd (B) were up against some seasoned players. Kieran Marray (L) was playing for the first time at number 2 and narrowly lost, 2-3. Dylan Martens (L) won his match comfortably, 3-0. The final score was 1-4 to Stowe.

The following Saturday saw the squash 1st V play away at Lincoln Minster. As it was Oundle's first ever fixture against Lincoln Minster there was some feeling of anticipation and uncertainty. It turned out their depth in standard was better than Oundle's and Lincoln Minster won 4-1. Kieran Marray (L) did well to claw back five match balls in the 3rd game, but ultimately lost his match 3-1. Dylan Martens won his match 3-0, to a healthy gathering of onlookers. They look forward to further fixtures against the new opposition.

The girl's 1st V squash team had an encouraging fixture against Lincoln Minster. Unfortunately they lost 2-3, however, each match was closely fought against a seemingly more experienced opposition. Both Isla Craggs (K) and Lucy Baker-Cresswell (K) had particularly impressive matches, and they both won. 

On the same afternoon the 1st VII netball team played their first full match fixture at home against Stowe. Oundle began strongly; moving quickly at the beginning meant that Stowe were somewhat intimidated and the goals followed for Oundle.  In the first quarter Oundle were the conquering side, winning 9-2.

The second quarter continued in a similar fashion, with the team building their passes carefully throughout the court and the feeds into the D were improving as they moved through the quarter.  The defensive play was continuing to cause difficulties for the Stowe attack with Mairi Donaldson (N) denying the Stowe players opportunities on goal. When half time was called the score was 18-6 to Oundle.

Moving into the third quarter, the very cold temperature was beginning to set into the team, however it didn’t stop Oundle. Good play by the shooters saw Oundle pull away from Stowe.  Strong mid court play from Flo Garnett (D) aided the mid-court players to consistently move the ball through the court out of defence.  The quarter finished 27-7. By the final quarter, fatigue and the cold was taking its toll and unforced errors began to creep in, but luckily not enough to affect the score. The final score was 33-10 to Oundle. Izzy Myers (Sn) was  MoM. She continuously hassled her opposition and worked-hard all day.

The 2nds girls lost a nail-biter versus Bedford, finishing at 22-21 in freezing temperatures. 
The U15A won 37-4 versus Beford Modern, with a crushing second half display. The player of the match was Flora Stocks (W) for her fantastic movement and excellent shooting. 

Finally, 13 athletes from Oundle travelled to Abington Park, Northampton, to compete against other districts in a bid to represent the county at the Anglian Trophy, to be held next month. The morning was very successful with all but two finishing in the top 13 and therefore being invited to race on February 6th in Boston, Lincolnshire. 

The U15 girls saw E Macintosh (K), O. Mardon (L), A Bennett (L) and C Ferrand (By) arrive in positions 9, 10, 11 and 45. A Parkinson (L) got an impressive 2nd place in the U15 boys race, with R Nieto (F) finishing 30th. A Cookson (W) finished 6th of the U19 girls, whilst our U19 boys came in strong with positions 5, 6, 7, 8 and 12, 13: H Evett (B), G Roberts (C), E Wilson (F), S Jinks (L), D Russell (Ldr) and H McLay (F). 

Doug Russell (Ldr)

In the first week of the Quarter, the Needham Society was lucky enough to have Xue Xinran 薛欣然 (more commonly known simply as Xinran) come to Oundle School as a guest speaker. Xinran is a renowned author, radio personality and philanthropist who has worked both in China and the UK for over 30 years. She has published books on topics as wide-ranging as the position of women in Chinese society, traditional Buddhist practices on the Tibetan Plateau and the plight of migrant workers in Chinese cities. She spoke mostly about her new book, Buy Me the Sky, which examines the effect on society of the One Child Policy.

The talk offered a fascinating insight into the ‘Little Emperor’ generation of China, how the huge economic growth and changing family relationships have shaped the youth of today, and both the benefits and the damage of having very strict family planning policies. Her talk, a mixture of anecdote, photography and statistics, incorporated material gathered over several decades of interviews and correspondence with real people. It was presented in a clear, yet emotive way, which helped the audience understand the scale and nature of the issues faced in China.

Xinran also spoke about the work of her multinational charity Mother’s Bridge of Love which works to help abandoned or adopted Chinese girls, who were unwanted simply for being female in a society that deeply values a male heir to continue the family line. The charity also encourages projects to help children in China who do not have access to education materials or basic living essentials. Both passionate and enlightened, well researched and balanced, Xinran’s talk was a fascinating look into where China has come from, what the situation is today, and a possible path for the country to follow tomorrow.
 
R Garvey
 

Thirty pupils from Oundle received offers this year to Oxford and Cambridge, with the offers evenly split between the two universities. Twenty-four of these are conditional on A level and Pre-U results, with six former pupils receiving unconditional offers. Among the offers was an organ scholarship at Lincoln College, Oxford. The number of successful applicants is higher than last year’s total of 27, and the highest since 2009.

The offers received were made across a pleasing range of subjects, with a number of modern linguists, scientists and English students once again successful. The full break-down of subjects reflects the wide-range of fields in which our candidates impressed interviewers, and the success is testimony to the diligence of our applicants and the dedication of their teachers. 

• Oxbridge Offers 2016 | pdf
•  

The Stahl’s production of Alice was Alice in Wonderland, but not quite as you know it. Laura Waide’s modernised version of the tale takes a rather stroppy Alice, beautifully played by Molly-May Keston (Sn), grieving for a deceased brother (Hugo Beazley - StA) to Wonderland, where she gradually learns the lessons required to come to terms with this loss. This was Molly-May’s swansong at the Stahl and was an absolute tour-de-force. She was at the centre of every scene and really drove the whole production along with real pace and purpose.

There many notable performances from well-established members of Oundle’s stage, including a faintly terrifying Lily Tyler (Sn) and a delightfully ditsy Coco Brown (W) as the Red and White Queens respectively, and there were also some unexpected delights. Henry Worsley (Ldr) certainly managed to make a great first impression on the Stahl stage as a scene-stealing hedgehog. It was difficult to tell if Phoebe Legard’s (Sn) dormouse was tired or tipsy, but she succeeded in topping the more obvious comedy of the Mad Hatter, played by Sacha Cook (W) and the March Hare, played by Rosie Dawes (W) in a wickedly funny tea-party scene.

An inspired ensemble cast was directed by Naomi Jones, and the impossible array of characters and the worlds they inhabit were brought to life magnificently by the technical staff at the Stahl. Magical shrinking tables, giant cupcakes and impossible disappearances of the White Rabbit himself, made for an evening which was at turns ridiculously funny and deeply moving.

There were many delights in this production, but even those fortunate enough to see it, may struggle to articulate the full, magnificent surreal beauty of it all.

“Let’s Play Croquet!”

M Burlington
 

Sixth Form A level PE students enjoyed a day visit to Loughborough University where they had the opportunity to have a tour of the facilities, undergo a variety of lab and field based fitness tests and attend a couple of talks.

The pupils were impressed with the range of high level facilities which are used by a number of elite athletes, as well as students at the university. We were very fortunate to be able to watch a number of elite badminton players, swimmers, the England U20 rugby team, and some of GB's top athletes who were training at the time.

The day began with a talk on the sporting opportunities that Loughborough has to offer at elite and participation level. They then learned how certain areas of sport science can be used to help improve performance, and how a national level hockey player is supported and able to fit in training alongside academic studies.

Later in the day, the pupils split into two groups. The AS pupils learned about how to accurately test speed and agility using timing gates, and were set the challenge of designing their own agility test. The A2 pupils visited the Exercise Physiology lab where they were able to use more sophisticated equipment to measure peak power, and Dylan Martens (L) stepped up to take on the challenge of the VO2 max test. The sessions enabled the pupils to build on the work covered in the A2 and AS PE syllabus, and gave them the chance to experience first-hand the opportunities that are available for sport at university level.
 
OOs Douglas Stark and Frankie Hall have had the chance to make full use of the academic and sporting opportunities while at Loughborough. Douglas is the current BUCS decathlon champion and has recently competed for U20 England in this event. Frankie is now a member of the triathlon/duathlon high performance set up, aiming for GB age group qualification, and is also competing for the university cross country team.

R Goatly

At the start of the week on Tuesday, the netball 1st VII played at Stamford. A sluggish start saw Oundle down 1-5 at the end of the first quarter. The team began to play more assertively and drew the score level. The final quarter was played with a three goal lead and Flo Garnett (D) showed some leadership in maintaining the team’s concentration. Oundle held their lead and the final score was 33-30.

On Sunday the 1st VII travelled to Grantham to play in the regionals. Their first match was a dominant 12-4 win against Caistor. The second match was against Nottingham High School and was lost 5-10. The remainder of the tournament was postponed due to slippery conditions.

On Saturday the 2nd VII played against Uppingham’s 1st team. They started slowly and were on the receiving end of a goal deficit in the first quarter. Saskia Van Vredenburch (W) and Carla Cox (W) were consistent in attack, while Frannie Aldridge (K) was solid in defence. Unfortunately, despite playing well in the final quarter, the score was 26-42.

Elsewhere in the Oundle Netball Club there were numerous fixtures against Uppingham. The 4th team won 44-25, as did the U15A, 33-23. They also played against the Allstar As and won 33-6. In the U14 section, the U14E squad played a strong game and won 23-11.

On Saturday the hockey 1st XI played against The Perse. At the end of a patient first half, Charlie Field (Sc) slotted the ball into the goal from a short corner. The second half was defensive from Oundle, and they conceded a goal. The remaining minutes were played out frantically as both teams went searching for the winning goal, however the whistle blew with the final score at 1-1.

Saturday’s football fixture against Uppingham was a clean sweep for the club, with only one goal conceded to Uppingham, out of a total of 22 goals scored in four matches during the afternoon.

The fives 1st team had a fixture against Derby Moor on Sunday. Clean sweep wins for the Oundle 1st IV were enjoyed all round, with a win margin of over 100 points. Particular mention must go to Tom Barlow (S) and Charles Rodgers (S) for not losing a single point in their second doubles match.

There was also a fixture for the juniors, normally a rarity, and junior players George Raines (S), Guy Farrand (B) and Tom Marinko (Sc) played well, considering it was their first match, although they were unable to secure victory against the more adept Derby Moor team.

Oundle mixed badminton team had an intense match against Oakam on Tuesday. The 1st team played with a high level of effort, and won 12-6 , while the 2nd team continued to show much outstanding performance, winning 14-4.

The 1st team also did well in the doubles games. The overall result in the mixed games was excellent, and the 1st mixed pair had a clean victory. Special mention goes to Cheah Teck Chow (Ldr) and the captain Xander Wiehnand (L) for winning all their matches.

In the 2nd team, the girls and boys double pairs performed well in their games as well, winning 14 out of 18 double games. Special mention also goes to James Clayton (L), Yat Long Tse (G) and also Georgie Beddows (K), who won all their games, giving their opponents a tough time.

Dylan Martens (L)

On Thursday, the Sci Soc hosted Anthony Zupnik, a Kernel Developer at Wolfram Research, a computation software development company that has put out a variety of software products, by far the most famous of which is Wolfram Alpha, a knowledge engine. Their services are employed by a variety of organisations from major banks to Apple (just ask Siri).

In the afternoon, computing students from across the School’s year groups met Zupnik to participate in a workshop. A Raspberry Pi computer was set up for each attendee, and Zupnik took the class through a crash course in the Wolfram language, Mathematica, before amusing and amazing the participants with the range of computational functions that the language can perform. These included pseudo-random numbers and images, advanced calculus, data-analysis and manipulation, and the most visual and popular one of all, plotting graphs, both 2D and 3D.

Mathematica handled all this with relative ease. To some, this may sound very technical, but the gist was that almost any data manipulation is possible in Mathematica, even taking weather data for Oundle from the internet and displaying it in an easily legible format. The workshop ended with the majority of the room impressed by the language, although some had their doubts.

After supper, Zupnik addressed a gathering of over fifty pupils and teachers. The subject of the talk was essentially a less detailed version of the workshop, with some extra tools and procedures thrown in. This focused primarily on the achievements of the Mathematica language and how it was developing to fit in with the world of the consumer.

The slideshow was delivered using Mathematica – a feature of the language, and included several interactive graphics. Each slide did everything from generating the longest possible word ladder, and finding city bikes available in real-time, to calculating the shortest route between all capital cities, visiting each only once.

These displays of computational power did more than enough to clear up any doubts still lingering in the minds of those watching about the validity of the language’s strength. After witnessing an image identifier algorithm compare Zupnik to Jack Black and Mr Cunniffe to Kevin Spacey (and then Chairman Mao), a huge round of applause met Mr Zupnik at the conclusion of his presentation.

Christian Dunn (B)

Oundle orators from the Third, Fourth and Fifth Forms competed in the area heat of the ESU Churchill Public Speaking Competition for Schools at Uppingham School. Adjudicators included Mr David Lee, Miss Caroline Windsor and Mr John Cartwright, all of whom have regularly adjudicated this event.

Two Oundle teams were among the seven competitors. Each team presented a formal display featuring a chairperson, a questioner and a guest speaker who delivered the topic for discussion. The presentations were judged on style, content, authority and engagement.

Competition was both vigorous and stiff, and as only one team of the seven competing would go through, Oundle did very well to be that one team, addressing the topic 'The Internet is a Drug and We are All Addicted'. The winning team comprised Catherine Swanston (Sn) as Chair, William Slinger (B) as Speaker and George Brettle (B), Questioner, who was also awarded Best Questioner of the evening.

The regional round of the competition will be held at Magdalene College, Cambridge in March.

H Wells

Ivor Theophilus Davies was killed in action 100 years ago, on the 22nd June 1915.

Thomas Stanley Newell was born in Hull on 15th August 1895 and lived in Birkenhead near Liverpool. He entered the Berrystead in September 1906 and transferred to Dryden House in September 1909, leaving Oundle in the summer of 1914. He was a sergeant in the School OTC and the Laxtonian Magazine, in his obituary noted that Thomas Newell “was one of the keenest NCOs that the Corps was every lucky enough to possess. Unfortunately debarred from the usual games, (presumably through ill health), he devoted all his time to the OTC and was mainly responsible for Dryden’s success in the House Competition in 1914.” Even unable to participate in ‘normal games’, Thomas Newell twice represented Oundle at fencing in the national competition held in Aldershot.

Soon after the outbreak of war, just weeks after leaving school, he joined the 2nd battalion of the Cheshire regiment. He was sent to the Western Front and was killed at Dickebusch, near Ypres. The official School Memorial book claims that he was shot by a sniper, but the battalion diary speaks of heavy shelling of the British lines by the Germans when he was killed. The diary noted on 5th July 1915 that “10 percussion shells fell close to Battalion Headquarters at Brasserie Farm. Lieutenant Newell died of wounds.”

Thomas Stanley Newell died in a dressing station, aged just 19, and was buried in the nearby cemetery of Bailleul across the Belgian border in France. His father would contribute the handsome sum of £50 towards the building of the new School Chapel, built to honour the boys who gave their lives in the Great War.

C Pendrill
Yarrow Fellow
 

Second Lieutenant Alan Godsal was just 21 years old at the time of his death, on 30th July 1915. He came up to the Berrystead in May 1905, aged 11 and later transferred to School House. He was born in New Zealand but his family later re-located to Blackheath and then to Wokingham in Surrey. At school, he was a good gymnast and a keen shot, making it to the School Shooting VIII in his last year. He was a house prefect in Sanderson’s House and sang bass in the School Choral Society.

Just a year after leaving Oundle, he was gazetted to the 7th Battalion, the Rifle Brigade, at Aldershot and went with them to France in April 1915. They were in the line to the east of Ypres.

He was promoted to the Colonel’s Staff as Battalion Machine Gun Officer and his Colonel described him as “quite my most promising officer”.

In late July 1915, his battalion was relieved of front line duty but had to return at once in order to retake the British trenches which had just been lost. Alan Godsal recaptured one of the machine guns and used it against the enemy until the ammunition ran out. He was last seen in Sanctuary Wood using his revolver. He has no known grave and his name is therefore inscribed on the Menin Gate in Ypres.

One of his men said of Alan Godsal: “I shall never have such an officer again. All of us loved him.”

C Pendrill
Yarrow Fellow
 

Captain Arthur James Goodfellow was the only son of Mr and Mrs James Goodfellow of Brantwood, Higher Crumpsall, Manchester. He was born in Manchester in June 1887 and came up to School House in January 1902. He left just two years later in 1904 having played for the XI in his last summer at the school.

After leaving school, he was a keen volunteer and Territorial officer and was promoted captain with the Salford Fusiliers in 1911. He worked for Messrs Henry Marsden and Company who were wholesale clothiers.

In September 1914, his battalion was sent out to Alexandria in Egypt to guard the Suez Canal. In May 1915, he went out to Gallipoli with the 8th battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. He took part in the third battle of Krithias in June 1915, but was killed on 7th August, when his battalion was driven out of recently captured Turkish trenches by a ferocious Turkish counter-attack. He was buried in Pink Farm cemetery, near Helles.

He was later mentioned in the British commander, Sir Ian Hamilton’s despatch of November 1915.

An officer wrote of Arthur Goodfellow: “Quite fearless himself, he made his men a resolute lot, and was always devising some new expedient. He is a real loss to those of us who knew him.”

He left behind a widow – Doris Langtry. They had been married in Cairo just seven months before his death.

Colin Pendrill
Yarrow Fellow

Charles Bailey Boucher was the only son of Mr and Mrs T Boucher of Wiveliscombe in Somerset, where he was born on 21nd June 1891. He entered Sidney House in September 1905 and left in December 1909, having been a member of the Cricket XI in his last summer term. In the autumn of 1910 he passed the entrance examination for Sandhurst and obtained a commission in the York and Lancaster regiment in 1912. Two years later he was promoted Lieutenant.

He served on the Western Front and was killed at the Battle of Hooge (not far from Ypres) on 9th August 1915. On that day, he led his men into action and was twice wounded before crawling back to the British lines. He was having his wounds bandaged when he was killed by shell fire. He has no known grave and his name is inscribed on the Menin Gate in Ypres alongside more than 54,000 other officers and men who have no known grave. His name is inscribed on one of the windows of St Andrew’s Church, Wiveliscombe.

Charles Bailey Boucher was 24 years old at the time of his death.

Colin Pendrill
Yarrow Fellow
 

Henry Berry Stranger was the first boy from Laxton Grammar School to be killed in the war. He was born the son of Charles and Elizabeth Stranger on 3rd July 1890 in Warwickshire, but by 1901 the family were living in Barnwell. He came to Laxton School in April 1903 at the age of 12 and left four years later in April 1907, going on to work on his father’s farm alongside his elder brother, Charles.

Soon after the outbreak of war, he joined the Northamptonshire Yeomanry and was killed at Poperinge near Ypres on 9th August 1915 aged just 25. Two other Oundelians were killed on that day, making it the worst day of the War at that point for the two schools. In total some 2,713 British soldiers fell that day.

Henry Stranger was buried in the New Military Cemetery in Poperinge close to where he fell, not far from another Oundelian, Edward Spofforth who was killed there in March 1916.

In his home village of Barnwell, his is one of 16 names on the War Memorial Cross erected in the churchyard.

Colin Pendrill
Yarrow Fellow

John Sherwood Newman was killed near Suvla Bay, Gallipoli on 9th August 1915, just three days after landing on the peninsula.

He was the elder son of Mr and Mrs PL Newman of Boothby Crescent, York and was born in the city on 11th July 1894. He came to Oundle in September 1908, first to New House and was transferred to Grafton House in September 1909, where his housemaster was Mr Wagstaff. He left Oundle in the summer of 1912.

On 1st September 1914, he obtained a commission with the East Yorkshire Regiment and trained with them at Grantham and Witley for the next ten months. He left England with his battalion in July 1915 bound for Gallipoli. His battalion landed on the island of Lemnos in July and then moved to Imbros. On August 6th, they left Imbros for Suvla Bay. In his last letter home, written the day before their departure for Gallipoli, he wrote with patriotic enthusiasm: “I am gladder than ever that I came here and not to  France – you realize what the fleet is to England here, where we eat, sleep and fight and do everything absolutely dependent on the fleet.”

Whilst attacking the Turks on 9th August 1915, John Newman was shot in the head. At first he was reported missing, but was later presumed to have been killed in action. He has no known grave and his name is thus inscribed on the Helles Memorial alongside the names of over 21,000 British soldiers.

Colin Pendrill
Yarrow Fellow
 

In November 1914, he enlisted in the 5th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In February 1915, he was given a commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the Prince of Wales’ North Staffordshire Regiment, but this was cancelled a few weeks later and he held the same rank in the 1/5th Welsh Regiment, and went with them to Gallipoli in July 1915. He was reported missing on 10th August 1915 and his death was presumed to have occurred on that date. He was the fourth Oundelian to die in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign.

He has no known grave and he is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, which has the names of over 21,000 of the so-called ‘missing’.

Oswald Coke Winstanley was 27 years old at the time of his death.

C Pendrill
Yarrow Fellow
 

Percy Edmund Burrell was the eldest son of Mr and Mrs ER Burrell of Blackheath, London and one of four brothers who went through Dryden House and served in the War. Three of the four would be killed.

Percy Burrell was born in March 1882 and came to Oundle in 1896 and left in 1899. Afterwards he spent some time in the Canary Islands learning his business and he later joined his father’s firm and was appointed managing director.
He joined the Honourable Artillery Company in 1909 and was promoted sergeant in the 2nd Battalion. In February 1915 he accepted a commission in the South Wales  Borderers and went to Gallipoli in May of that year. He was killed on August 21st, 1915 in an attack on Chocolate Hill. His Commanding Officer wrote: “He was creeping down a trench to help the wounded under heavy fire….he proved himself an excellent officer in every way; keen, brave and full of energy.”

A fellow officer wrote of Percy Burrell: “He was a splendid officer, popular with his men, cool and courageous under all circumstances, his first thought always for others.”

Percy Burrell was 33 years old at the time of his death and has no known grave, being commemorated on the Helles Memorial, close to where he fell.

 Colin Pendrill
Yarrow Fellow