Kingswood College and the boys who fought in WW1
As we know, there was a great feeling of patriotism among young men in Ceylon at the outbreak of the War in 1914. Coming after 99 years of complete British domination of the island, many Ceylonese obviously felt a strong loyalty to King and Empire.
The Christian schools of Colombo, such as S. Thomas’, St. Joseph’s, Wesley and St. Benedict’s, and the secular Royal College were sources of many volunteers. As was Trinity College Kandy, whose old boys have been mentioned frequently in these columns.
Early training: Kingswood Cadets 1917
These schools regarded themselves (as they still do) as the educational institutions of choice for the elite of the island’s youth. (Disclaimer – this writer is an alumnus of two of these schools). Modelled on the British Public School system, they emphasised sport as well as academic disciplines and focused on producing ‘modern’ young men who would be faithful subjects of the King-Emperor.
The senior students of these establishments did not disappoint, with scores of young men volunteering to defend the Empire. Royal College counted 75 Ceylonese boys who enlisted, S. Thomas’ 46, St. Joseph’s 36 and Wesley 33 volunteers. These totals do not include the many British students who had attended these schools.
Trinity College, Kandy, was consciously modelled on an English Boarding school under the charismatic Principal Rev. Fraser. The Principal himself felt compelled to serve and took a leave of absence for three years, doing his duty as a Chaplain to the troops on the Western Front. A total of 64 Trinitians volunteered along with him.
But, perhaps surprisingly, the school with the largest number of volunteers who served in the Great War, at 76 just exceeding Royal’s total of 75, was Kingswood College, Kandy.
Founded in 1891, just a few years after Trinity (1872) Kingswood was, at the time, a relatively young institution. Its founder Louis Edmond Blaze (later Sir Louis) was himself an old boy of Trinity College, and the first student of that school to earn a degree. Upon graduating from Calcutta University as a Bachelor of Arts, Blaze returned to Ceylon and founded the Boys’ High School in Kandy. It proved to be a popular institution, especially among the large Burgher community in the hill-country, in large part thanks to the dynamic founder who shaped the school’s spirit admirably.
The school also had an active Cadet Corps which in turn led to many of its members enlisting in the war effort.
Hermann Loos, the Judge mentioned in an earlier article whose three sons (Trinitians as far as can be ascertained) served in the Great War, was obviously a patriot and one who encouraged military training for young men. He awarded a trophy in 1917 for the best school cadet corps which bears his name and is still part of the National Cadet Corps awards. The first winners were Kingswood College, Kandy, which shows the spirit of the students which led to so many volunteers for a war that did not threaten their homeland in any way.
Some of the older schools still pay homage to those past pupils who had the courage and determination (or was it foolhardiness?) to volunteer for a conflict half the world away, from which so many did not return.
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