We are approaching Remembrance Day, where we commemorate those who lost their lives in the line of duty. As well as the customary two minutes' silence, the Chapel, built 1924-1926, serves as a memorial to those who died in the First World War, while each of the steps leading up to Chapel represents an OD who was killed in the conflict. When the war ended on the 11th November 1918, the following note written by Headmaster R.D. Budworth carried with it a tone of cautious hope:

"There will be a half holiday this afternoon as the Germans have signed the Armistice and, for the moment at least, there is Peace. ---RDB."

The following year, on the 11th November 1919, the School celebrated anniversary of the Armistice, an event that would eventually become Remembrance Day: 

"By the King's Command the anniversary of Armistice Day will be celebrated by two minutes' silence. The School will assemble in Big School and will be in their places by 10.55. School will go straight on with no break till 10.40. After that their will be no further School. The third period will be from 10.15 to 10.40. [I hope all Masters will find it possible to be in Big School at 10.55]. ---RDB." 

1919 also saw the publication of The War Record of Old Dunelmians, a compilation of 95 biographies and photos of all those Durham School students thought to have died in World War One. The number now, when factoring in those who died at the Bow and Chorister Schools, as well as those who died of wounds after the 1919 publication of the War Record, is 125. In the introduction, editors Captain A. Brodrick Thompson and Captain E. Watts Moses highlighted the depth and breadth of those lost: 

"When one reads those biographies one cannot but be struck by the number of lives full of youthful promise that have been cut short. Every walk of life, every profession, is represented… The law, chartered accountancy, architecture, agriculture, commerce, and all kindred occupations are represented in the list, and many men who have upheld the Durham athletic traditions are gone." 

There are indeed many examples of the alumni who fell during the First World War, all of whom displayed immense bravery within the tragedy of the war. Amongst this list, there is a special sort of poignancy to those who gave their lives especially young. 2nd Lieutenant Humphrey Blaikie Goudie (b. 1897) attended the School from May 1912 to October 1913. Wanting to join up but being only 16 years old, he enlisted as an orderly in the Royal Army Medical Corps at the 2nd Scottish General Hospital in Craigleith, Edinburgh. He would later obtain his commission on the 25th June 1915. In the 24th July 1916 issue of the Newcastle Journal, it was reported that Goudie had been "awarded the Military Cross for distinguished bravery in leading a bombing party and other acts of gallantry on the field". He would later return with a stretcher to bring in a wounded soldier. 

A far sadder report appeared in the same newspaper a month later, in the 22nd August. "An intimation reached South Shields yesterday that Lieut. Humphrey Goudie, son of the late Dr. Goudie, of South Shields, had been killed in action. The deceased officer… met his death while engaged in bombing operations." He had only been 19 years old. His Commanding Officer wrote, "His death has been a great loss to me and to the battalion. I looked on him as one of my most promising young officers, and I know the men of his platoon had the greatest respect for him. I had great pleasure in sending his name in for the Military Cross for good and daring work up north and was very glad when he was awarded the decoration which he richly deserved. He was always cheery and did his duty in a most conscientious manner, and I knew if he was given work to do, it would be well done. He was an officer I could ill afford to lose." 

Another young soldier to have lost his life was George Alan William Hulley, who left Durham School in July 1914 and immediately enlisted in the 6th King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, aged only 17. According to The War Record of Old Dunelmians, he "was an accomplished organist, having been devoted to the study of music since a very early age, and on leaving the School became an articled pupil to the firm of Messrs. Harrison and Harrison, Organ Builders, Durham. He also acted as Assistant Organist at St. Margaret's Church, Durham, and himself helped to complete the building of the new organ for that church, which was finished shortly before he joined the Army." Unfortunately, on the 11th October 1917, only a few months after he was drafted to France, he was reported missing when his Battalion went into the trenches near Passchendaele; it was later presumed that he had been killed by a shell. 

The 95 names in The War Record of Old Dunelmians is only a fraction of those school alumni who died in the line of duty. Thanks to this book, however, we still have the photographs and stories of those who died in the First World War. By Durham School tradition, on our Remembrance Day service, a student will stand on each of the steps leading up to Chapel holding one of these photographs, allowing us to remember even more deeply all those who gave their lives during the conflict.