COLLEGE SPORT during the Second World War
2019 marks 400 years of Dulwich College history, a history that several members of teaching staff have chronicled, under the aegis of Dr Nick Black and Jan Piggott. What follows is an excerpt from the sports chapters, written by Trevor Llewelyn (72–79), Editor of this Yearbook, recounting the short visit of Dulwich to Tonbridge during the last few months of 1939. Like many other London schools Dulwich was expected to evacuate the capital for the duration of the war, and in September 1939 the College moved down to Tonbridge. It had a significant impact on both the academic and sporting life of the College, although everything was done to keep the experience for the boys as normal as possible. The sharing of facilities affected some sports more than
others, and the rugby players found themselves training at 11.00am. Despite the disruption, a reasonably healthy rugby fixture list survived with the 1st XV playing many of their usual opponents. It was the last game of the season though that drew the biggest crowds as Tonbridge played Dulwich in what was described as a very strange game. ‘It is not every day that two schools who share the same buildings play each other before the eyes of thousands of spectators.’ Tonbridge won 13–6. Dulwich also played Tonbridge at fives, although the College team struggled to get used to both the ‘much slower’ courts and the buttress. The stay in Kent did, however, have a beneficial impact on squash at Dulwich as Tonbridge had a well-established team and took the sport much more seriously. The College boys relished the
No rugby or cricket was allowed on a Friday. Furthermore, masters were called up for war service and new sports coaches had to be drafted in from the remaining members of staff. The fives courts became an equipment store and for a while they, along with the gymnasium, were home to a barrage balloon unit. The almost brand new Pavilion suffered at the hands of the Air Raid Protection Executive. Sand bags, decontamination sheds and doors knocked through the walls altered the appearance of the building considerably, and someone spirited away the hands of the clock! It soon became used as a First Aid Post and the building also became a third junior boarding house. In July 1941 the heating in the swimming pool was switched off, but only when the water temperature dropped below 10 degrees did the swimming team cancel home fixtures. By the end of the war however, it was expected that every boy should be able to swim at least 10 lengths. In May 1940 Sports Day was initially cancelled, ‘owing to the war and the fact that we have not nearly sufficient room [the barrage balloon boys had arrived] for parents and boys’. In early June, boys frequently interrupted their games to cheer passing trains carrying weary and wounded men back from the retreat at Dunkirk. In July the Battle of Britain began, often literally over the heads of the boys.
challenges provided by this experience.
Return to Dulwich On returning to Dulwich in January 1940 it soon became clear that school life was going to be radically different. The lunch break was shortened to maximise teaching time and minimise the impact of the blackouts, particularly in the winter months.
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