Chairman School Governors

Closing remarks on the occasion of the inauguration of the plaque in memory of Lawrence of Arabia by Winston Churchill on 3 October 1936

My task this morning is an easy one. It is on behalf of the Governors of the School to accept charge of this memorial, which I do with a feeling that we of the old School can be proud to remember amongst the names of its scholars that of T.E. Lawrence. We are chiefly concerned at this moment with the address which Mr. Winston Churchill has delivered to us, and the honour he has done us in coming to perform the ceremony we have witnessed this morning.

Mr. Winston Churchill’s address should be an incentive and inspiration to the boys of this School, and also to those who, like myself, are approaching the sere and yellow leaf, to give all the service we possibly can to our fellow creatures, our city, and our country. We are deeply grateful to Mr. Churchill for his services this morning, and it is for this reason that I have the greatest pleasure in proposing that a very hearty vote of thanks be accorded to him, and I ask that you show your approval in the customary manner by acclamation.

The Lawrence Memorial Plaque

This post and its companions present a full record of everything you need to know about what happened on 3 October 1936, on the school stairs leading up to the hall. All the content comes from memorial booklets published at the time.

‘October the third 1936 was a great day in the history of the School. At 11.15 a.m. the Hall, suitably decorated, was filled with the boys and guests.

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T E Lawrence (1896-1907)

A Speech by Mr Churchill

If you have not landed here from that page, you can read about the circumstances of this speech here

“Mr. President: Although more than year has passed since Lawrence was taken from us, the impression of his personality remains living and vivid upon the minds of his friends, and the sense of his loss is in no way dimmed among his countrymen. All feel the poorer that he has gone from us. In these days dangers and difficulties gather upon Britain and her Empire, and we are also conscious of a lack of outstanding figures with which to overcome them. Here was a man in whom there existed not only an immense capacity for service, but that touch of genius which every one recognises and no one can define. Whether in his great period of adventure and command or in those later years of self-suppression and self-imposed eclipse, he always reigned over those with whom he came in contact. They felt themselves in the presence of an extraordinary being. They felt that his latent reserves of force and willpower were beyond measurement. If he roused himself to action, who should say what crisis he could not surmount or quell? If things were going very badly how glad one would be to see him come round the corner.

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