Old School Ties: Educating for Empire and War - Softcover

Dr. Martin Parsons is Deputy Head of the School of Education and Director of the Secondary Post Graduate Certificate of Education course at the University of Reading. He was a student at Reading School 1963-1970. Formerly a Senior Teacher at Theale Green Community School in West Berkshire, Martin moved to the University in 1990 to become Head of PGCE History and now lectures on both undergraduate and post-graduate courses. Since 1992 he has been heavily involved in researching evacuation at the Micro level spending a great deal of time investigating a variety of sources within the former reception areas and relating his findings to the national situation. As a result his PhD thesis examined the perpetuation of the myths and images inherent in text book and media depiction of Evacuation and Air Raid Precautions Martin is Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Evacuee Reunion Association, has lectured and organised workshops on the topic at various Universities in the USA and Poland for students and teachers and has presented papers at a number of international conferences. In the UK he has given lectures to various groups and gave the Key-note address at the Imperial War Museum Evacuation Day. He has been listed in 'Who's Who in the World' for his work in this area. He has recently completed a series of new text books and worksheets related to his research for Key Stage 2 pupils. These were published by 'Wayland' in 1999. He is also collaborating with Homerton College Cambridge on their research project into Wartime Education and with colleagues in the Community Studies Department at the University of Reading who are researching into the effects of evacuation on babies. He has also established an Evacuation Archive at the University of Reading library on the Bulmershe Court campus. He was joint historical advisor for the Sony Gold Award Winning BBC Radio 4 Series, The Evacuation the True Story. Other works by Martin Parsons published by DSM: I'll Take That One - Dispelling the Myths of Civilian Evacuation 1939-45 Times Educational Supplement Book of the Week Waiting to Go Home - Letters and Reminiscences from the Evacuation 1939-45 The Evacuation - The True Story (In association with BBC Radio 4) The Radio Series was the winner of the Sony Gold Award Friendly Foe - The Letters of Leo Schnitter, a German POW in England. John was educated at Probus School in Cornwall and St. Luke's College, Exeter. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1955. After a tour of duty in the UK on the staff at the RAF Signallers School, he spent eight years in Libya, working in both military and civil aviation. Prior to Colonel Ghadaffi's take over, he left Libya and worked for two years for Pacific Island Traders in Fiji and Papua New Guinea. He was severely injured in a traffic accident in Suva, Fiji and took up school teaching. He taught Biology at Reading School in Berkshire for 25 years. During this time he was Contingent Commander of the Combined Cadet Force for eight years, Housemaster of a Boarders House for ten years and Chairman of the Staff Common Room for four years. He is now Honorary Secretary of the Old Redingensians Association and Editor of its magazine 'The Old Redingensian'.

On May 8th 1915, 2nd Lieutenant Giles Frederick Ayres of the 3rd Battalion, the Dorset Regiment closed a letter to his parents with the words, "I am going over the top of the parapet with the shout of "School" on my lips and then pray that God's will be done". He was killed leading his men in an attack on the German trenches the following day. What made men like this? What gave them the strength of character to offer their lives for King and Country? What sort of person would become a District Commissioner and rule alone in a remote fort in Uganda? Who could build a road in the Himalayas whilst being shot at by determined Afridis? Why should someone wish to build canals in the Sind or guard a penal colony on a remote island in the Indian Ocean? What motivated men to grow tea in the hills of Assam or train camels to pull artillery pieces in Somalia or to become a Subaltern on the Western Front? This book tells the incredible story of the Reading School Old Boys who became the leaders and driving force behind the British Empire and of those who were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice in the 1914-18 war. Using a compilation of tales of adventure and heroism from the archives of Reading School, John Oakes and Martin Parsons explain how the British Public School system developed the male Imperial Elite that ruled the British Empire. The letters and articles from the Old Redingensians featured throughout the book provide an insight into the Empire at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries and show the true spirit of adventure, loyalty and courage these young men had.