wellington college

The human impact - Passchendaele

The toll on families and communities

Almost 60% of the 100,000 New Zealanders who went to war became casualties. More than 18,000 died of wounds or disease – 12,483 of them in France and Belgium. From a population of little more than a million people in 1914, this meant that about one in four New Zealand men between the ages of 20 and 45 was either killed or wounded. The impact of war, though, reached far beyond the individuals involved; most New Zealand families, communities, workplaces, schools and clubs were affected in a very direct way.

Letter from the Western Front

Alex McColl had been a key member of the Wellington College First XV in 1909 and was a talented all-round sportsman. Like many of his school mates he was quick to enlist when the war broke out. He led a platoon at a landing in Gallipoli in 1915, participating in much of the heavy fighting there. He was wounded but returned to active service and was present at the evacuation in December 1915.

Where they lived - Wellington College students killed in Belgium

The impact of the First World War on local communities and institutions such as clubs and schools is starkly illustrated by the experience of Wellington College. During the war 1643 of this school’s former pupils served overseas. Of these, 222 were killed, and a further 350 were wounded.

Turning boys into soldiers

A Certificate of Merit for bayonet instruction, presented to Wellington College cadets, 1915

Voluntary cadet groups existed in many schools prior to 1909 when the Defence Act introduced compulsory military training. This act required all boys aged between 12 and 14 to undergo 52 hours of physical training each year as Junior Cadets. Initially, this training was supervised by their teachers, although this was dropped in 1912.

A School Rifle Volunteer Cadet Corps had been established at Wellington College in 1870, and school cadets were to remain an integral part of life at the school well into the 20th century. J.P. Firth, principal from 1892 to 1920, placed great emphasis on the cadets and the importance of being physically fit. Photographs of boys in the military uniform of the school’s cadet corp or shooting teams make the transition from schoolboy to soldier more plausible. Many of the more than 1600 college old boys who served overseas during the war had learnt to handle a gun, salute and march in formation on the playing fields of the school. Students were even awarded merit certificates in bayonet instruction.

Douglas Harle's grave

A fine scholar and sportsman, Douglas (Dougie) Harle was one of Wellington College's outstanding pupils in the years immediately before the war. Harle, a 24-year-old second lieutenant in the Canterbury Infantry Regiment, was killed during the successful attack on Gravenstafel Spur on 4 October 1917. A fellow officer reported that he showed ‘great dash and initiative’ in leading his men against an enemy machine-gun post in a farm building. He was killed ‘just as the position was practically taken'. Harle was buried in the Dochy Farm Cemetery. The surrounding landscape today is a far cry from the wasteland of 1917. Back then it was a sea of mud, pock-marked by shell holes that quickly filled with water and became graves for many men.

Wellington College war medals and memories

Medals awarded to the Gallie brothers: MC, DSO and Croix de Guerre

Wellington College's most decorated old boy was Bernard Freyberg, New Zealand's Second World War commander and Governor-General from 1946 to 1952. Fighting with the British forces, he received numerous awards and was wounded on several occasions both at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. During the final stages of the first Battle of the Somme, he was awarded a Victoria Cross (VC) – Britain’s highest military award – for his actions in the capture of Beaucourt village. The school acknowledged his achievements by giving the boys a day off. The Freyberg family paid a high price for their war service – two of Bernard’s brothers, Oscar and Paul, were killed.