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NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS flying bombers to cut the wires of barrage balloons. To obtain data, Wilson had to make a series of flights in a specially modified Hurricane, a task which involved flying the aircraft into the wires of tethered balloons. On one occasion the wire jammed his controls, and he had great difficulty extracting the aircraft from a spin. He recovered at 1,000 ft and landed with a length of wire trailing behind his aircraft. On November 30th 1942, he took off from Exeter airfield in his Hurricane for a further test. As a special precaution, his cockpit was reinforced to reduce the risk of decapitation, but the heavy structure gave him a very limited view. He did not see two German fighters, which were on a tip-and-run raid over Devon. Their Cannon shells thudded into the Hurricane, severely damaging the aircraft’s controls. Wilson tried to bale out but could not open the heavy canopy; after several attempts, he managed to land, then discovered that most of the rear of the aircraft had been shot away. Early models of the four-engine Halifax bomber suffered control problems resulting in many accidents with heavy loss of life. A test crew from Farnborough, endeavouring to identify the problem, were killed when the aircraft crashed out of control. Immediately afterwards, Wilson took an engineer on a test flight for a further attempt to obtain data. As the heavy bomber entered a turn, it rolled violently and entered a vertical dive. With great difficulty, Wilson managed to regain control before landing the aircraft safely. A major modification to the aircraft’s two fins eventually solved the problem. Wilson was awarded the AFC. After spending six months briefing pilots in the United States on RAF flight testing methods, Wilson was given command of No. 102 squadron, equipped with modified Halifax bombers, and led his squadron on many raids over Germany. On four separate occasions his aircraft was damaged by anti-aircraft fire. While leading a raid to Scholven in October 1944, his aircraft was badly damaged as he started his bombing run. Despite this, he continued to fly straight and level over the target until the bombs had been dropped. The citation for his DSO described him as “a squadron commander of outstanding quality, possessing a high order of courage and devotion to duty.” Wilson was deeply affected by the loss of his young crews. He insisted on writing personal letters to the next of kin of all the aircrew posted missing, often remaining at his desk for hours after he had returned from an operation. After the war, he had appointments in Iraq and the Far East, and commanded Nos. 9 and 49 squadrons when they were converting from the Lancaster to the Lincoln bomber. After a series of appointments at the Air Ministry, Wilson served in Germany before flying fighters as the chief instructor at the Central Gunnery School and taking a two-year appointment on the operations staff of the Second Allied Tactical Air Force in Germany. He retired in 1959, when he joined the export department of the aero-engine division of Rolls-Royce. He finally retired to Hampshire in 1973. Douglas Wilson, who died on June 6th, married Valerie Roche in 1940. The marriage was dissolved in 1953, and in the same year he married Eileen Farrell. He is survived by his second wife and by twin daughters and a son from his first marriage. (Reproduced from The Daily Telegraph of June 30th, 2004.) JAMES SOMERVILLE (O40/45) Alderman James Somerville died on January 21st, 2005. The funeral service was private but a memorial service took place in the church at Kemble on Friday, February 4th with Royal British Legion representatives present. James was in Plox from 1935 and then in Old House between 1940 and 1945 when he joined the Royal Marines, being demobbed in 1948. Until 1974 he was a tea planter, after which he devoted much time to the Royal British Legion as Housing Manager and area organiser. He worked tirelessly as a district councillor for the Thameside District and was made an alderman after twenty years service. MARK PRIDIE (O55/59) Mark Pridie died on July 21st, 2004 on his yacht, Contessa in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Mark and his wife, Mandy, were on holiday, enjoying his retirement from the Merchant Navy. He died peacefully after a swim in the ocean. Mark was an easy-going person with many friends in the yachting world. He leaves behind not only his widow, Mandy, but also two sisters and four brothers. He was cremated on July 29th last year in Bourne, Cape Cod. A service of thanksgiving, conducted by Mark’s youngest brother, the Revd William Pridie, took place in the church at Northlew, near Oakhampton, Devon on August 26th, 2004. MEMORIAL RUGBY MATCH On 7th November, 2004, one year after the tragic loss of Alex, it was fitting for family and friends to come together to remember, enjoy a good game of rugby and enjoy some good food afterwards. For some, it was the first game in about seven years, since the days of Mr Passmore’s Set Six; for others, it had been less than a term, and it showed. The teams arrived – some members a little hung over from the night before in The Blue Ball and some even needing their boots put on for them! A mixture of members of Staff and OB’s drawn from a wide range of year groups donned their rugby kit to do battle on Hyde playing field. It was great to see current members of the School alongside the pitch, supporting the teams. It was very kind of the new Headmaster, Mr Lashbrook, to let us use the pitches and even to give up a bit of his weekend 32 OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2005
NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS to come and watch King’s boys of old. Under the ever-watchful eye of Gareth Evans, the match got under way, and, for me in particular, it took several minutes to remember what exactly I was meant to be doing. Fortunately, it soon came back to me. In many ways, it was quite surprising how well the teams knitted, having never played together as a group and there was some great play from both sides. Sadly, it wasn’t my team that got the first points on the board. Still, it didn’t take long for us to get back into the game, with some great tries from Jon and Jamie, leading the team from the front. The opposition also had some great playing from Matt and Steve (the student master), while Fergus also caused us some problems. One particular member of the opposition targeted me from 30 yards, hitting me full in the chest. There is nothing quite so terrifying as Andy Grazette hurtling towards you at full pace. Half-time was most welcome, with lots of tired students gulping down as much liquid as possible, and it was very obvious who the stereotypical students were. The second half began with some more terrific rugby, to the amusement of the crowd. There was need for some discipline from the referee as Rich Luckock was given the yellow card. There were shouts from the crowd for certain people to get the ball, Rich Luffingham in particular. And what a treat when he did! Luckily, I was in the same team, because when he got the ball, he scored. Other surging runs came from Graham Saunders who, when he gets up speed, is unstoppable. Trust me, I tried. Sadly, the game finished with my team coming second, though I can safely say that the score was not the important thing. We all had a great time, a few of us feeling a little the worse for wear, but the wonderful food prepared by the mums was superb. I apologise for not mentioning all the try scorers, and I’d like to thank, on behalf of my family, everyone who played, supported and made delicious food. Special thanks too to Mr Lashbrook for letting us use the pitches and Mr Evans for refereeing excellently – as usual. It was a great occasion befitting a great character. Rory Edwards (O98/03) Extract from The Salisbury Journal of April 29th, 2004: “Salisbury Rugby Club staged a special memorial match on Saturday [April 24th] in honour of four of its players who died in tragic circumstances in the last twelve months. They took on the Old Boys of King’s School, Bruton, who ran out 12-10 victors against the Salisbury side. Before the game a minute's silence was held for Alex Edwards [O98/03], Reece Corcoran, Peter Rudorf [L90/96] and Toby Martin.” APPLE GROWERS SPORTS CLUB Apple Growers Sports Club was founded in 2000 for Old Brutonians. It was formed so that old school friends could get together every now and then to keep in contact through playing sport. The Club first started by entering university rugby sevens tournaments. It proved so popular that at the Oxford Brookes Sevens Tournament in 2001, we fielded three different squads, one of which ended up as runners up. The Club is now entering its sixth year and is as popular as ever. We currently have 43 members but that figure grows every year and by the end of 2005 that figure will be closer to 60, and this does not include the many more that come to support. As the Club has moved on, so have its members, with many now no longer at university. The fixtures are now largely rugby fifteens matches (rather than university sevens tournaments) against local teams. We have established annual fixtures in the last year or two against North Dorset RFC and Salisbury RFC. In November last year, we set up a Remembrance Sunday fixture against Milton Abbey Old Boys to celebrate their 50th anniversary, playing that match at Milton Abbey in front of a large crowd. This too is to be an annual event. [The Headmaster has agreed that the 2005 fixture should be played at Bruton on November 13th. – Ed.] The results are of secondary importance but we are extremely pleased with our unbeaten record so far! The success of the rugby has encouraged us to start to organise a hockey fixture later this year, as yet still to be confirmed. We hope that this will get more people involved who do not necessarily like to play rugby, particularly the girls in a mixed hockey game, many of whom make up our loyal support at the rugby events. Not forgetting cricket, of course. Our first match was organised for last summer, only for our opposition to pull out of the fixture two days beforehand. Extremely frustrating as much organisation went into it, but, like every fixture, was not short of people wanting to play. We have our first match on July 10th against Milton Abbey during their Old Boys’ cricket weekend. Perhaps the most exciting development is our inaugural tour this September to Jersey where we will be playing Jersey RFC and Jersey Island Cricket Club over a long weekend. If you are an Old Brutonian and would like to get involved, please contact one of the following: Marco Laing: Mobile: 07960365444 E-mail: marcolaing@hotmail.com Duncan Weir: Mobile: 07734349890 E-mail: duncan.weir@farnfields.com or duncanweir44@hotmail.com Ollie East: Mobile: 07766732817 E-mail: o.east@bbr.com OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2005 33
Page 1 and 2: OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTE
Page 3 and 4: OBA NEWSLETTER 2005 A HUNDRED YEARS
Page 5 and 6: OBA NEWSLETTER 2005 LETTER FROM THE
Page 7 and 8: AGM AND BRUTON DINNER MINUTES OF TH
Page 9 and 10: THE BRUTON DINNER 1963 Harry Wither
Page 11 and 12: INSIGNIA & SOUVENIERS OLD BRUTONIAN
Page 13 and 14: ACCOUNTS Balance Sheet at 31 Decemb
Page 15 and 16: Present at the Lunch: Guest of Hono
Page 17 and 18: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS New Members
Page 19 and 20: The OBA portrait of Sir Peter Squir
Page 22 and 23: Old Brutonian Golf Society Contact:
Page 24 and 25: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS 1962 Carl BE
Page 26 and 27: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS Americanism
Page 28 and 29: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS More than th
Page 30 and 31: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS good; we eve
Page 34 and 35: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS CHANGES OF A
Page 36 and 37: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS OB HOCKEY -
Page 38 and 39: THE SCHOOL HEADMASTER'S LETTER Scho
Page 40: EDITOR: DAVID HINDLEY. © DESIGN &

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