Duty and Sacrifice: Fettes College and the First World War

"At the outbreak of war there existed considerably less than 2,000 Fettesians scattered throughout the world, and of that number some eight or nine hundred were over forty years of age. Yet 1,094 O.F.s joined up; 246, or nearly one-quarter, made the supreme sacrifice. They enlisted in every arm of the Service: on Sea, on Land and in the Air.

They fought on no less than twenty-five Fronts, and representatives were to be found in the Canadian, New Zealand, Australian, South African and Newfoundland Corps as well as in the Indian Army.

Roughly, out of every ten Fettesians who served, two were awarded decorations and four mentioned in despatches. There are seven instances of two brothers being killed. Of the brothers Ross, three fell, members of a sturdy family, each of whom in his day led the Fettes forwards. Then there is the outstanding case of the four brothers Anderson, the entire family, who fell one after the other. The eldest of them, a married man of thirty-six, was the last to fall, but not before he had gained the Victoria Cross.

For such glorious deeds Fettes will be forever proud and grateful."

This is how, in 1933, a former pupil summed up the First World War experience of the famous Edinburgh boarding school.

This comprehensive study draws from the school archives and a range of contemporary sources written by Fettesians and those who served with them to give a detailed insight into the lives and deaths of a generation.