North Queensferry School in WWI

1914-1918 the War Years

 
On August 4th 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany, and the school 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.