Following previous posts on the ubiquitous 1930s cigarette cards (two thirds of British men smoked in the 1930s/1940s, and every pack contained a card) and the Royal Navy, followed by the Royal Air Force, it's time for a look at another aspect of 1930s British life - the Public Schools.
W.D.&H.O. Wills produced an "Arms of the Public Schools" series in 1933/1934:
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Eton College, the most famous of England's public schools. A natural recruiting ground for the Brigade of Guards, Military Intelligence and (occasionally) His Majesty's Prisons. |
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| Harrow School, Eton's principal competitor. Old School of both, amongst many others, Winston Churchill and Stanley Baldwin. |
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| While the Battle of Waterloo may arguably have been won on the playing fields of Eton, the game of rugby was certainly invented on the playing fields of Rugby School. Old school of Neville Chamberlain. |
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| A more modern public school, but one continuing the Waterloo theme, Wellington is said to have supplied many of the more technically minded subalterns of the VBCW, principally for the mechanised and artillery arms. |
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| One of the very latest public schools (1929) Malvern College's relationship with that "notorious VBCW outfit" within the Herefordshire VBCW, the Malvern Hills Conservators, is unknown. |
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| One of the oldest, and obviously most Anglican, of public schools - Christ's Hospital. The Christ's Hospital Combined Cadet Force must undoubtedly have formed one of the famous Anglican "shock troop" units during the VBCW. |
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| King's School, Canterbury. Notwithstanding its name, given that the school has been situated for centuries within the boundaries of Canterbury Cathedral, its Cadet Force proved utterly loyal to "their Archbishop" during the VBCW. |
A notable omission from this series of W.D&H.O Wills cigarette cards was that ancient and central (to Herefordshire and the Herefordshire VBCW) public school - Hereford Cathedral School. Given the already noted presence of its upstart competitor, Malvern College, this must have been a minor irritation to the then headmaster of HCS, Dr. Crees. Thus, with a flourish and a little help from modern technology, we can rectify this unaccountable error:
Gaming Note : with a modest amount of Photoshopping, these "Arms of the Public Schools" cigarette cards can easily be transformed into presentable flags for a "Public School Army", or simply a CCF section of a larger force. Certain public schools cadet forces could arguably have served on any side within the VBCW (well, save probably for the Communists) and are therefore very versatile troops.
