The Colcestrian in the years of the Great War, reproduced here in this book, both revealed the challenges which faced the school of the time and captured the very special quality that still characterises CRGS today. The bouleversement caused by war created an extraordinary backdrop to school life, and the insights given into the preoccupations of the time are truly fascinating.

This book follows the journey of the development of the gardens at Colchester Royal Grammar School from 1853 when the school moved to its present site in Lexden Road to the beautiful landscaped grounds of today. It explores the transformations that have taken place and describes some of the evocative plants to be found within the gardens.

Many schools may have done as well but none have done better ~ Percy Shaw Jeffrey Echoing the words of Percy Shaw Jeffrey, the headmaster of Colchester Royal Grammar School at the start of the First World War, this book tells the story of the global conflict through the lives of the former pupils and teachers who are commemorated on the school's war memorial. It retraces their early days in the classroom and on the playing field and their actions during some of the major events and battles of the First World War, from Ypres and the Somme to Palestine and Egypt, as well as at sea and in the air. Published to coincide with the centenary of the armistice, this collection of biographies provides a fascinating and timely account of the experiences of a generation of Old Colcestrians whose legacy of service and courage is unmatched. Additional essays examine the historical context and other remembrance events by the school community, including visits to the graves and memorials of the fallen. This record of their lives ensures that their ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Few towns equalled Colchester in their role in the Great War. In this expert account, Colchester historian Andrew Phillips records four of the most dramatic years in the towns history.As Headquarters of Eastern Region, Colchesters garrison supplied many of the men who prevented the early defeat of France. The town then became a training area for at least 100,000 recruits. While training, guns on the Western Front could often be heard.At times Colchesters civilian population of 40,000 was equalled by 40,000 troops, who often billeted with local families or housed in large tent cities, which then became hut cities. With 20,000 troops to feed on average, long food queues became a daily experience until rationing was introduced, and soon thousands of requisitioned horses, trucks, artillery pieces and munitions were also assembled in the town.As the war took its deadly toll, Colchester became one vast hospital as the wounded arrived by train. An enlarged garrison hospital, an enlarged civilian hospital and six Red Cross Hospitals nursed at least 110,000 men. Colchester women made huge quantities of bandages, splints and gowns to alleviate the suffering of the war wounded. Colchester factories produced uniforms, guns, shells, mines, compressors and engines. Paxmans, the largest firm of the town, produced a staggering 20 million precision-machined parts. Over 10 per cent of Colchesters adult men died in the conflict, the highest in eastern England and twice the national average. Small wonder the town built one of the finest civic war memorials in England.

Readers of the 1917 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack were advised by the editor, Sydney Pardon: “Its chief feature is a record of the cricketers who have fallen in the War – the Roll of Honour, so far as the national game is concerned.” By the time the conflict was over, Wisden had carried almost 1,800 obituaries. Test players like Colin Blythe were far outnumbered by men with a lesser claim to fame, as schoolboy cricketers were sent out to the battlefields fresh from their playing fields. Amid the carnage and confusion, errors inevitably crept in: names were wrong and there were cases of mistaken identity. Some mistakes have lain buried in Wisden's pages for a century: as this book discloses, three men outlived their obituary by many years. All the obituaries have been updated in Wisden on the Great War with new information about the subjects' lives and deaths, their families and memorials, and ordered by the year of death. There is a listing of the 289 men who had played first-class cricket, while the 89 who did not get an obituary in Wisden are now recognised. The book also lists for the first time the 407 first-class cricketers who were decorated for gallantry, of whom 381 survived. Among the men included is an officer who as a boy was an inspiration for J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, and one whose agonising death on the battlefield is movingly described in Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That. These men now receive proper tribute, along with literary names that are already well-known, such as Rupert Brooke, who headed his school's bowling averages in 1906 and received an obituary in Wisden that mentioned that, at the time of his death, he 'had gained considerable reputation as a poet'. The wartime Wisdens have long been cherished by families whose relatives are commemorated in them, but the originals are scarce and command a high price. Now the lives of the men are properly celebrated, enhanced by many remarkable stories of courage and coincidence. The result is a poignant insight into the cohorts of cricketers who played the ultimate game for their country.

This book traces the history of Colchester Royal Grammar School from the first mention of a town school (the probable lineal antecedent of CRGS) in 1128 right up to the present day. This is the first comprehensive history of the school ever published and charts the fascinating story of the evolution of the school from its humble beginnings to the centre of academic excellence that it has become.

The path of countless ages has been trod By many a scholar now forgotten, save For the inscribed tombstone of his grave (If not already sunken ‘neath the sod). And if these men be now mere names or less, They’ve done their share to keep the School alive, And uphold that tradition we derive From those men in the days of Good Queen Bess; And we must let our fame be ne’er outshone, Holding aloft the school’s honour and name, That she may continue to rise in fame, Surpassing heights attained in years now gone. However, this our work cannot be done Unless a share is taken by each one. — Flight Lieutenant Benjamin Robinson DFC RAF, former CRGS pupil, Killed in Action over Germany, 17th June 1944.