Notes
The Southgate County School website (see References) states: 'The one Member of Staff killed was John Swallow. He had been brought up in Wolverhampton, where he had been educated first at St Peter’s Collegiate (Elementary) School and then at Wolverhampton Grammar School. He then spent a year as a Pupil Teacher back at St Peter’s Collegiate before going up to Fitzwilliam Hall, Cambridge, where in 1911 he was awarded 2nd Class Honours Historical Tripos.
He then joined the Staff of Southgate County, at the beginning of the September Term 1911, when he was just 23 years old, exactly one year after the opening of the new buildings in Fox Lane. His appointment was as an Assistant Master, teaching History and Literature, at a salary of £150 per annum, on the Middlesex Scale.
He was a keen sportsman and played football for the Masters XI on several occasions. On 6th November 1912 he played against Bishop's College, Cheshunt, which resulted in a win for the Masters’ XI by 5 - 2.
He also played in the return match with Bishops' College on 26th February 26th, which the Masters’ XI also won but by the narrower margin of 5-4, with John Swallow scoring their fourth goal. He must have been a very talented footballer, as later that year, on 20th November, he was selected to play for Middlesex against Cambridge University, the result of which was a 3 - 3 draw.
The next we hear of him is that on Monday, 29th June 1914, he and Miss Philipson took a party from IIIa and IIIb to the Tower of London: that was just a day under five weeks before Great Britain entered the War against Germany.
The following reports appeared in subsequent issues of the School Magazine:
No. 13, December 1914:
“The first two Masters to be missed were Mr. Wardhaugh and Dr. Niblett, neither of whom returned to School after the summer holidays. Mr. Wardhaugh, already an officer in the Territorials, was in camp at Eastbourne when war broke out. He is now with his regiment at Watford, and we are interested to hear that Mr. Neely is also an officer in the same Battalion.
“Dr. Niblett went straight to Germany at the end of last term, just before war broke out. We hear that he is now interned in Berlin, and can only hope that, when an exchange of prisoners is effected by the Government, he will be enabled to return.
“Mr. Adams returned to school for a few weeks, but it was known that he did not intend to remain here long, and indeed it seemed a very short time before he, too, left us to join a Birmingham Regiment. Many of us were sorry that we did not know which day he was actually leaving, and so we had no opportunity of bidding him good-bye.
“At the half-term Mr. Swallow ... bade farewell to the School, for the present. A crowd of both boys and girls thronged outside Room 5 to wish him good luck and say good-bye. About a week later we heard through the Head Master that he had already obtained a Commission in the Xllth Liverpool's, and also that he intended to be married at once before joining his regiment. We offer him our congratulations on both events.”
In fact, there is no further mention of Dr Niblett in any of the records on this Disk, although “Has gone
into business” has been written in pencil on his Record Sheet under “Post, if any, taken up after leaving the School”.
No. 15, March 1916:
“Since Christmas we have heard from Mr. Wardhaugh, Mr. Swallow, and Mr. Adams, and, though they all had the bad luck to be spending Christmas in the trenches, we are glad to say they all seemed cheerful and well.
Mr. Wardhaugh, after being wounded at Festubert last May, was home on leave for some months. He paid a short visit to the School in July, and we were delighted to see him. He returned to France in the Autumn. Mr. Swallow also came up to see us when he was home on short leave, and Mr. Adams has paid us a flying visit this Term since obtaining his commission. Both received a warm welcome.
“We were sorry to say good-bye to so many old friends in July. Of the eight boys in the Upper Sixth Form who left then, seven immediately joined the Colours.
“Our Roll of Service, which appears later, contains 158 names, and unhappily there are now six of our old boys whose supreme sacrifice has been accepted, and who have given their lives for their country. To their relatives, and to present and past pupils whose friends have fallen in the struggle, we offer our deepest sympathy, as well as to the many connected with the School who are still in grave anxiety for the safety of those near and dear to them.”
No. 16, March 1917:
“A year ago the war took from us three of our remaining five masters. It was with much regret that we parted from Mr. Annett, Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Mayne, all of whom left us last Easter to take up work in the Anti-aircraft Service.
“We are now very sorry to learn that by the end of the term both Mr. Auger and Mr. Paull will have left us also.
“It was with much grief that we learnt last term that Mr. Swallow had been ‘wounded and missing’ since the beginning of August. Nothing has been heard of him since, and we can only conclude that he, too, has sacrificed his life while fighting for his country. All who knew Mr. Swallow will receive this news with sorrow.
“He was most popular, well loved, and respected by us all.
“We have also received news of twenty of our Old Boys, who have given up their lives in the service of their country, and to all their relatives and friends we offer our sincerest sympathies.
“In the Head Master's report ... attention was first drawn to the losses which the school has sustained ... Mr. Swallow, who had been 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st King's Liverpool Regiment, after having been twice wounded, was lost sight of forever on August 8th, 1916.”
Since the previous issue, a further four Members of Staff had “joined the colours”
Mr. Annett, Royal Engineers.
Mr. Auger, Royal Naval Air Service.
Mr. Baldwin, Royal Engineers.
Mr. Mayne, Royal Engineers.
Mr. Paull, Royal Flying Corps.
“During the year Mrs. Paull ... and Mrs. Auger have joined the staff of mistresses, and we have been glad to welcome them all.”
So, due to the exigencies of the War, the School had appointed its first married women to the Staff, to replace their husbands. Both Mr Auger and Mr Paull had married during the Summer holidays in 1914, just as the War started.
John Swallow had first been posted ‘wounded and missing’ following the second attack on Guillemont Station on 8th August 1916 and it is probable that his body was never found.
The Battle of Guillemont was a British assault on the German-held village of Guillemont during the appalling 1916 Battle of the Somme, or twelve battles, which lasted from 1 July to 18 November 1916. The village of Guillemont lay on the right flank of the British sector where it linked with French forces and, by holding it, the Germans prevented the Allied armies from operating in unison.
Guillemont was first attacked as part of the night offensive of 22/23 July (it was occupied by 19th Manchesters, later forced to retire). Further attacks took place on 30 July (when the 17th, 19th and 20th battalions of the King’s Liverpool Regiment lost heavily in the advance, and the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers temporarily occupied the village), 8 August (55th West Lancashire Division), 12 August and 18 August (2nd Division). The manner in which these attacks failed became dismally familiar; the infantry’s lines of approach were cruelly exposed, as they led up a shallow rise, over a crest and down
a slope completely devoid of cover.
John Swallow had originally been in the 1st Battalion The King's Liverpool Regiment, so he may have been a survivor of the attack on 30th July when the Regiment suffered very heavy losses and therefore joined the 55th West Lancashire Division in the attack on 8 August.'