The staff of both schools had been newly appointed and were led by Mr A.C.E.
Weston BSc (Econ) and Miss A Lawton and totalled fourteen men and women. Pupils
were drawn not only from Chatteris but also from Benwick, Doddington, Manea,
Mepal, Stonea, Sutton, Wimblington, and Witcham. A complete change for all but
especially for the village children who were unused to the bus journeys as well
as to the vast building and numerous other people around them.
With such an optimistic beginning it seemed as though nothing could go wrong but
within a few months the first effects of World War II were being felt as Staff
were called up, children returned to village schools and evacuees moved in.
Reminiscences of A.C.E. Weston (First Headmaster)
January 1939 when I first took the post at the Cromwell School, as all those old
enough to remember will testify, was a time fraught with far of war and
concerned with the preparations for war. It was a period during which, one by
one, my hopes of offering new educational experiences to children in a rural
area were aborted. During the two years and five months which I spent in
Chatteris we actually had the declaration of war followed by all my young staff
being called up for military service. Next, the children from the villages were
no longer brought to Chatteris but retained in their old local schools because
of lack of transport.
Soon, evacuations from East London brought three London schools to share our
premises: the Davenant Foundation School, the Robert Montefiore School and a
section of the Jews Free School We all used the Main School on a part time basis
and, for the rest of the time every church or chapel hall (even a room at the
Co-op) was pressed into service. I expect many tales have been told and many can
still be told of the experiences had by the good folk of Chatteris in coping
with the problems of evacuation. I had some, too, as for example arranging for
the Feast of the Passover to be held in the School according to the Jewish
tradition. Then again, the main national slogan had become, "Dig for Victory".
Even at the School we were digging and planting potatoes where we had hoped for
ornamental flower beds. More often than not many children were away from school
engaged in multifarious agricultural operations such as carrot "hoeing", beet
"singling", plum "pulling" or even celery "dropping" to keep the British "inner
man" sustained. Attendances became so bad that the Board of Education (as it was
then) became worried and made noises about withholding the Board's grant to the
County.
Cromwell in Wartime
With the strong possibility of a war breaking out the school had been designed
so that it was suitable for conversion into a hospital should the need arise and
162 iron bedsteads, mattresses and pillows were stored under the stages in
readiness.
With the departure of Mr A.C.E. Weston the Education Committee decided that Mr W
Precious, who was the Headmaster of the King Edward Junior School, should take
over the Cromwell Boys Schools as well so he moved into Cromwell with his pupils
and staff, leaving King Edward free for a London School, The Robert Montefiore.
The Cromwell buildings were not large enough to accommodate all the juniors and
seniors in Chatteris as well as a London senior boys school, the Davenant
Foundation, so many lessons were taken in various halls in the town. Staff
became used to being sent at short notice with a class and little or no
equipment. It was a great time for improvising. Perhaps some of the most unusual
lessons were when pupils were taken with their gas masks to walk though a gas
filled garage at Belmont House, East Park Street, the home of Mr & Mrs R
Heading. Before individual gas masks were issues supplies were loaned so that
staff and pupils had practice in fitting and packing them away. Another effect
of the war was a shortage of petrol which caused many pupils to have to return
to the village schools and numbers at Cromwell went down.
In October 1939 a whole morning was spent on air raid drill - a hand bell was
rung as a warning, whistles were blown every fifteen minutes when each class
practised in the room they occupied, on the whistle they moved to the next room
so that all pupils would be ready in an emergency in whatever room they happen
to be. Windows were closed and children had to lie flat until the next move. In
the halls they lifted trap doors and descended the concrete steps to shelter
under the stage. Eventually it was decided to erect surface air raid shelters.
These were used for the first time on 3rd July 1940 when the town had a yellow
alert. During the following months the siren went so frequently that the schools
decided to use the shelters only when danger was imminent.
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