North Queensferry School – the war years – World War I

The new school

The school on the Brae was bursting at the seams with the growth in village population from the construction of the Forth Bridge and then Rosyth Dockyard.

The design of the present building was approved and construction commenced in 1912,.

The New School was formally opened on April 11th 1914 . . .

. . . but was not yet ready for occupancy!

That was remedied on 1st June 1914.

However, it was only used for a few weeks before the summer vacation began with in Right Royal Fashion on July 10th. 1914

World War I

On August 4th 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany, and the summer vacation was extended until 31st August.

The vacation was then extended by a further 2 weeks to clean the school and repair the damage caused by the school having been occupied by 6th (Perthshire) Battalion Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) during the holidays.

School resumed on September 14th 1914.

[Note: The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has 1,019 recorded WW1 deaths from this battalion.

In December 1914, a ration of soup and bread was supplied to pupils whose fathers were at the front.

In December 1916, the school timetable had to be adjusted to match the short daylight hours as the use of artificial light was curtailed under the Defence of the Realm Act.

There was further disruption in March 1918, when the Admiralty took over houses at Jamestown and Cruickness, dislodging many pupils.

Worse was to follow, when the normal epidemics of Measles, Rubella and Scarlatina were joined by three waves of “Spanish Flu.”

The worst wave was the second, which resulted in the school being closed on November 1st 1918.

The end of WWI

The school re-opened on November 18th, after the Armistice which ended the fighting on November 11th 1918.

There had been a large influx of military personnel to the village during the war years.  Some of these soldiers received education at the school.

Others gradually migrated back to their civilian homes in the south of England, depleting attendance at the school.  This entry is from 7th February 1919

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