The South African
Military History Society

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Die Suid-Afrikaanse Krygshistoriese Vereniging

Military History Journal
Vol 1 No 4 - June 1969

From Playing Field to Parade Ground
The Record of King Edward VII School, Johannesburg

Cadets, as a school activity, came to King Edward VII School in 1905, some three years after the foundation of the school. The Cadet Movement had only been thought of in 1904 and was the brainchild of Col. R. P. Macdonald, DSO, who became Staff Officer and Commandant, Transvaal Cadets of the Transvaal Volunteers.

Exactly what degree of influence cadets have had on King Edward VII School, cannot be expressed in precise mathematical terms; yet their influence has been great. It still is.

The spirit and tradition of the particular cadet training which pupils received while they attended this school, helped to make the contribution of Old Edwardians fighting for their country, one which is out of all proportion to their numbers. Let facts and figures speak for themselves. When the Great War broke out in 1914, the school was still very young, only twelve years old. Yet 474 Old Edwardians are known to have gone on active service. Of these 66 did not return and 45 were decorated. The decorations included:
OBE -- l; DSO -- 5; DFC -- 6 (and 1 bar); DSC -- l; MC -- 25 (and 1 bar); MM -- 3; French Croix de Guerre -- 1; Belgian Croix de Guerre -- 3; Italian Military Cross -- 1; Italian Naval Medal -- 1. One of those to receive the award of the Distinguished Service Order was Lieut. G. R. McCubbin, of the Royal Flying Corps, who was responsible for bringing down the famous German air ace, Immelmann.

During the Second World War, over two thousand Old Edwardians and masters were in the fighting forces: 178 made the supreme sacrifice. The list of over 100 decorations included: CBE -- 2; OBE -- 10; MBE -- 14; DSO -- 9; DSC -- 2; MC -- 17; DFC -- 37 (and 4 bars); AFC -- 3; DCM -- 1; George Medal -- 1; DSM -- 1; MM -- 4; DFM -- 3; Bronze Star (U.S.A.) -- 2; DFC (U.S.A.) -- 1; French Croix de Guerre -- 1. These achievements of the School were honoured by a special broadcast by the B.B.C., when it was said that the Roll of Honour of King Edward VII School, for the Second World War, was the highest in the Commonwealth for one school.

Neither does the story end there. At present, former pupils of this school still hold responsible positions in the South African Defence Force. Major-General G. T. Moll, SM, DSO, is the Republic's Air Adviser to the Chairman of the Defence Production Board. Brigadier J. N. Robbs, SM, DFC, is O.C. Tactical Group and Colonel J. H. Eccles is Head of the S.A. Air Force College. In 1956, Comdt. S. J. W. Inglesby, at present Staff Officer Flight Safety at Air Force Headquarters, became the first pilot to go through the sound barrier over South African soil. Until the 8th Field Regiment S.A.A. was absorbed into another unit, Col. F. W. Stegmann was their Hon. Col. The present Hon. Comdt. of the Transvaal Scottish, Comdt. I. Mackenzie, DSO; the Hon. Col. of the Kaffrarian Rifles, Col. L. H. Bailie, MC (and Bar) and Col. C. Metcalfe, ED, Hon. Col. of the Durban Light Infantry, are also former pupils of King Edward's.

The close links that have always existed between the Transvaal Scottish and the School Cadet Detachment have played their part in forging a worthwhile tradition and giving the Detachment standing in the eyes of observers. Parent regiment and affiliated cadet detachment have grown up together. The long association began in 1906 when Sgt.-Maj. Donald Macleod, DCM, of the Transvaal Scottish Volunteers, was Cadet Instructor. He later became Lieut-Col. D. M. Macleod, DSO, MC, DCM, who commanded the 4th S.A.I. (S.A. Scottish) through Delville Wood and after the war took command of the Transvaal Scottish.
In 1920, the Detachment was officially allied to the Transvaal Scottish. On 5th May, 1920, Lieut.-Col. Macleod inspected the Detachment and explained its relation to the parent Regiment. He presented cadets with the unit flash (diamond-shaped, divided vertically into two white and red halves, worn on the upper arm). Lieut.-Col. Macleod pointed out that cadets who wore the flash were under obligation to maintain the traditions of the Transvaal Scottish and further to join that Regiment on leaving school. Since then, six ex-pupils have commanded battalions of the Regiment.

Cadet training has always been taken seriously. Field-days were in fashion in the 1900's. In those days, until 1914, the Transvaal Cadets wore a slouch hat, stylishly cut khaki barathea-type tunic with silver buttons, green collar and three-pointed cuffs, riding breeches, the long puttee and a leather bandolier over the shoulder. Cadet camps were held frequently and, after the Great War, they continued until the late twenties. During that period, the Detachment sometimes went on manoeuvres with the Transvaal Scottish.

The success of the practical aspect of Cadet training at the school was made possible by the visiting Permanent Force Cadet Instructor, Sgt.-Maj. "Jock" Chalmers, DCM. His association with the Detachment (66th Detachment Union Cadets) began in 1911, and in 1926 on retiring from the Defence Force with the rank of captain, he joined the School Staff as Cadet and P.T. Instructor. Cadet training at the school was in his hands until his retirement in 1944. This man, who had won the DCM at Spioen Kop, during the South African War of 1899-1902, was the making of many a soldier - not only from his work in the cadet field, but also while he was P.F. Instructor to the Transvaal Scottish. Their debt of gratitude to "the greatest Jock of them all", as the R.S.M. of the Transvaal Scottish put it, spontaneously showed itself soon after his death, when a clock to his memory was presented to King Edward VII School. Contributions had come, not only from his comrades of the Transvaal Scottish, but from Old Edwardians belonging to Regimental Associations of all four provinces. In 1921, when the Transvaal Inter-School Efficiency Platoon Competition was instituted, the Efficiency Platoon of King Edward VII School won the competition for the first time. In 1930, when the school withdrew, it had carried away the Efficiency Shield for seven out of the ten years it had competed. On the other three occasions it was placed second. These successes were largely attributable to the patient training of Captain Chalmers. An Inter-Company Competition, which was based on the Transvaal Efficiency Platoon Competition, is still an annual feature of Cadets at King Edward's.

Today is an age of uncertainty in the field of Cadet training. Few Cadet officers who saw service in the Second World War remain. Some quarters feel that now, with the introduction of National Service, Cadets, at school, are redundant. Yet there is positively no substitute for the opportunities of leadership, responsibility and co-operation that Cadets gives the schoolboy. Cadet training conducted efficiently by the school concerned, can make all the difference to a trainee's adaptation to army life during his military training and, of course, can accelerate his promotion. Boys' schools which do not have, or do not support school Cadet detachments, can have no experience of the inestimable value of the Cadet training movement in the development of the character, of the independence, of the self-confidence and the loyalty to country, of the youth of the nation. The older schools which have maintained Cadet detachments, with their wide experience before, during, and after two world wars, are best equipped to bear testimony to this. It would indeed be a tragedy if the Cadet movement were to be discontinued.

EDITOR'S NOTE: It will be noted that rank and regiment are not shown against D. G. Davis and N. H. Tayler. Information in this regard would be welcomed from readers.

REDAKTEURSNOTA: Daar sal opgelet word dat rang en regiment nie gewys word teenoor D. G. Davis en N. H. Tayler nie. Informasie in hierdie verband sal verwelkom word van lesers.