On 30 January 1917, Mr Haylock the headmaster at Willingdon School wrote an entry in his school’s: ‘Sent off today 3 bushels of horse chestnuts gathered by children for the Minister of Munitions.’

Over the previous weeks there were notes in the Log that the children had been out in the parish during the school day collecting conkers as part of the war effort. Many of the schoolboys also belonged to the 1st Ratton Scout Troop founded by Lord Willingdon and the scouts were also seen around the parish busily searching in the grass under the horse chestnut trees and filling boxes and baskets with conkers. Once collected they brought them back to the schoolroom to removed the green shells, leaving just the nuts. These were bagged up in sacks, put on a hand cart and wheeled off to Hampden Park Station ready for collection and transportation by train to London and from there to secret locations.

But why were children gathering conkers and why was there so much secrecy around it?

During the First World War, Britain was faced with shortages to various chemicals and components that were useful in making ammunition. In order to keep the army supplied and armed inventive solutions to these shortages were sought.

Research showed that conkers contained a key chemical called acetone which could be used o make explosives. So, when the Ministry of Munitions, who were in charge of all ammunition production, ordered the collection of conkers, across the country, to help make ammunition. School headmasters were urgently directed to send out pupils during the school day to collect as many conkers as they could find. Vast quantities of conkers were collected, weighed, bagged and sent off to collection centres. Perhaps more were collected than anticipated as there were reports of sacks of conkers left rotting on station platforms because there was not enough trains to transport them all.

The schools were paid 7 shillings and 6 pence for each hundredweight of conkers collected but a veil of secrecy surrounded the reason why the children were actually collecting them. A question was even asked in Parliament but the answer given simply stated that they were required for “certain purposes”. It was said this was for fear that the Germans would discover this ingenious method of acetone production. No one would have thought that the humble conker could play a part in winning the war. Production continued until July 1918 but by the autumn of that year conkers had returned to their normal role, firmly threaded on the end of a string ready for small schoolboys to play their annual matches.

Questions

1) Why chemical was found in conkers?

2) Who initially ordered the collection conkers?

3) Where did children go looking for conkers?

Pictures

Click here to download a copy of this resource: First World War – Children gathering conkers – students

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In 1918 rationing was introduced to Britain. German U-Boats were sinking ships carrying food to Britain and there was a danger that the country may begin to starve.

A government committee was set up to look at the ways of using any available natural resources.

Throughout the country, rural schools were instructed to ‘employ their children in gathering blackberries during school hours’ for the Government jam making scheme.

The children of Willingdon School rose to the challenge and supervised by their teachers groups went out into the fields from 9 September to 23 October; to harvest what was obviously a bumper crop. The School Log records 17 days when the children were taken out blackberry picking. The first afternoon 9th Sept – ‘No school this afternoon, the children gathered 73 lbs of blackberries for jam for the Ford Committee.’

The fruit was packed into specially provided baskets of a regulation size and sent immediately by train to special factories where it was made into blackberry and apple jam for soldiers. Mr Haylock, headmaster, records the amazing weight of 1,869 lbs 3oz being sent from the school. In return, cheques were sent to the teachers who were authorised to pay the pupils.

On 28th October Mr Haylock records receiving a cheque for £23.7.6d in payment, which is worth over £1400 in today’s money. He shared out the money to the 123 children on the school roll.

Questions

1) Why was food running short during the war?

2) How many lbs of blackberries did Willingdon children collect?

3) How much money did the children make?

Images

Click here to download a copy of this resource: First World War – Children collecting blackberries – students

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In the years before the war there were little educational options or support for children deemed as being handicapped. In response to this absence, Grace Kimmins established the Guild of the Poor Brave Things in 1894. The Guild aimed to provide different and positive forms of education to physically handicapped children.

A result of this new movement was the creation in 1903 of the Chailey Heritage Craft School which provided room and board for handicapped children and regular structured lessons. Alongside this, Kimmins also unveiled the Guild of Play which sought to provide an alternative to activities on the rough streets of urban Britain.

Originally the school was only open for disabled boys. However, in 1908 it began to admit non-disabled girls from the Guild of Play who would be taught to become good housemaids and were taught skills such as laundry and midwifery.

When the First World War broke out and the British Army began to sustain heavy casualties; over 240,000 British soldiers lost limbs as a result of the fighting. Soon the school began to take on new and unforeseen duties as the Princess Louise Military Hospital for wounded soldiers.

A number of wounded soldiers were sent to the hospital to learn from the children how best to overcome their injuries. This ‘educative convalescence’ allowed soldiers and children to learn and play alongside each other in a safe and instructive environment. This education included agriculture, forms of industry such as toy making, and artistic classes such as painting.

Further than this, the children of the school helped construct new wooden buildings on the site which, when completed, they then moved into thus freeing up their original building for use by wounded soldiers.

The War Office closed the hospital as a place for soldiers in 1920 but it was shortly afterwards reopened as the ‘Princess Louise Special Pensioners Hospital’ by the Ministry of Pensions, where it continued to allow injured men to work alongside children.

Questions

1) What was ‘educative convalescence’?

2) Why were the children at Chailey Heritage useful in helping wounded soldiers?

3) What sort of activities would the soldiers and the children do together?

Pictures

Click here to download a copy of this resource: First World War – Educative Convalescence – students

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