by John Bolt (1937-41)
John Bolt (1937-41) writes:
“In 1941, soon after the Government established the Air Training Corps (ATC), No. 1250 (Oxford Schools) Squadron, ATC, was formed; the schools involved being the three boys’ Grammar Schools in Oxford at that time. They were the High, Southfield and St.Clement Dane’s, the latter being an evacuated London school sharing the premises and facilities of the two Oxford schools.
The Squadron’s HQ and base was at Southfield School which had more suitable classrooms for instruction on navigation, meteorology, signalling, etc., and where the forecourt was useful for parades and inspections. Some of the teachers in the schools became the Squadron officers, the High School teacher/officer being D V “Douggie” Gilbert, whose subject at school was German.
A formal Squadron photograph taken in front of Southfield School on the occasion of an official inspection c.1942 shows some 55 cadets, of whom about 15 are High School pupils. A few High School pupils were already members of the City Squadron (No. 150), having joined the Air Defence Cadet Corps which was a forerunner of the ATC, and had elected to remain in that Squadron rather than transfer to the Schools Squadron. Also in the photo, as one of the guests, is Mr Badham, the High School headmaster.
Every ATC unit was affiliated to a Royal Air Force Sation and for No. 1250 Sqn. this was RAF Kidlington. It was there that many High School pupils, myself included, had their first ever flight. In 1941 this would have been in twin-engined Airspeed Oxford trainers. Later, when pilots were being trained for the invasion of Europe, our flights were in Hotspur training gliders.
I don’t know how many boys went on to join the RAF, but certainly one High School pupil who did was Ted Beare (1937-41), who became a Sunderland flying-boat pilot but sadly was killed in North Africa.