More Than a Name

“How many roll calls must there have been here over the years? This is the only roll call you will hear, that will never be answered.”

 

Former LWC Teacher and Houseparent, Peter Booth tails off as he stares at the names of 25 Sternians listed on the College War Memorial.

 

Designed, funded and project-managed by students, it was fittingly unveiled in 2017 by another former pupil, Squadron Leader George ‘Johnny’ Johnson, the last surviving member of the Dambusters raid.

 

The names that gaze out over the LWC rugby pitches were not solely lost in conflict, but all gave their lives whilst serving their country.

 

Peter Booth taught two of them.

 

“Pat Priestly was a 5^th Former in Hazelveare when I was a resident tutor there in my first year,” Peter explains. Pat was a Foundationer with a love of rugby and motorbikes. His fellow Hazelveareans described him as a ‘shooting star’ and a talented sportsman.

 

Peter smiles. “He was very popular and a very effective rugby player, in a good team. I’m glad that I didn’t come up against him on the rugby pitch.”

 

Pat went on to join the Army after leaving LWC. Six years later, on 5^th July 1979, he was one of two crewmen assigned to a Lynx helicopter based out of Hildesheim in Germany. A system malfunction on take-off resulted in the aircraft crashing into a hangar, killing the pilot instantly and severely injuring Pat. He died six weeks later, having been able to give valuable evidence to an inquiry into the accident. He was 22 and is buried in the Hanover Military Cemetery.

 

“Boys who were living in one of the long dormitories at Junior House heard the sound of bombing one night and looked out to see a glow. What they could actually see were the flames from the bombing of Southampton Docks, where one of them was from.”

— Peter Booth

 

It may seem unusual that a former teacher in 2025 can recall two of the names on a war memorial. But with service remaining one of the College’s key values throughout its 103-year history, maybe it isn’t as strange as it first appears.

 

“I remember casting Jonathan Williams as the king in a Junior House production of All The King’s Men,” Peter confides, when asked about another of the inscriptions on the memorial. “It was a fairly obvious casting. He was quiet and dignified.” Jonathon went on to join School House after his first two years at LWC. Another Foundationer, he was described as a great ‘all-rounder’ – equally at home on the rugby field as he was on stage. He joined the Royal Navy after completing his time at LWC in 1981. On 14^th May, 1989, he was on board one of the Lynx helicopters attached to HMS Brilliant in the Indian Ocean. A mechanical fault led to the aircraft crashing on a rocky outcrop en route to Mombasa. Jonathan died along with eight other crew members and passengers. He is buried in Emsworth near Havant. “I remember him as a thoroughly nice guy,” Peter concludes.

 

Jonathan Williams

 

Jonathan and Pat are the last two names to be inscribed on the War Memorial, but Peter has also made it his mission to discover more about those who reside much further up the list.

 

“Thomas Oaten came to LWC as a Foundationer, after his father was killed in the First World War whilst serving in the Royal Navy,” he continues. “When the Second World War began, he wrote to his mother and said he wanted to do his bit and join the Navy , but wouldn’t if she didn’t want him to. She told him to go ahead.”

 

Thomas was on board HMS Illustrious, the lead ship in her class of aircraft carriers, in January 1941. The vessel was attacked by dive and high-level bombers, along with torpedo aircraft. It also received six direct bomb hits. 83 servicemen were killed, of whom Thomas was one. “He was buried at sea but is commemorated at Gosport,” Peter adds.

 

Sternian, Clarence Sansome was serving in the British Army when he was killed in 1944. “He was part of the D-Day landings,” Peter explains. “His wife was expecting their second child when his ship was torpedoed and he was lost at sea. He’s commemorated at the Bayeux Memorial and when we used to take Junior House on trips to that area, we would always lay a wreath.”

 

Whilst Sternians were scattered across the world during the Second World War, Peter has also uncovered touching stories of wartime life at home, in the 1200.

 

“Boys who were living in one of the long dormitories at Junior House heard the sound of bombing one night and looked out to see a glow,” reveals Peter. “What they could actually see were the flames from the bombing of Southampton Docks, where one of them was from.

 

“His Housemaster, George Warner (who himself lost a leg in the First World War), appeared, realised what was happening and put his arm around him.”

 

Peter goes on to explain how a former LWC lab technician remembers working in the fields of the College, alongside Italian and German prisoners of war. His father gave them food and when released, one of the former prisoners came to visit the family to thank them for their kindness.

 

Now, decades later, the LWC War Memorial provides the focus for all of these memories. At the centre of the College’s annual Remembrance Service, its place is as crucial as ever.

 

“I see a lot of students sitting there, on the benches beside it,” Peter continues. “It’s important to know more about those names on the memorial. They’re not just names, they’re people who were here.

 

“Lest We Forget.”