No carrying gas masks or a need for evacuation and air-raid shelters during the ‘Great War’. However from 1914 the school routine was considerably upset in other ways.
Towerbank school was taken over by troops. Its pupils came to Portobello where they received instruction in the mornings, with Portobello (primary) children attending classes in the afternoon. Secondary pupils maintained a normal timetable.
One after another male teachers, other than the headmaster Mr Mackay, departed for war service. Higher Grade pupils were occasionally called on to teach younger children.
Wartime economy restricted the use of coal in the classroom fires.
Many teachers and former pupils gained decorations during the war. A Roll of Honour was compiled and in 1916 it took up eight pages of the school magazine.
At a service in the school hall on 20th May 1921 a memorial was unveiled to the seventy-two former pupils who fell in the war. Its oak frame was carved from a design by Mr Mekie, the First Assistant. It is capped by the school’s monogram (PHGS – Portobello Higher Grade School) and a shield bearing the inscription:
FAITHFUL EVEN UNTO DEATH
—
“THIS IS THE WORD THAT YEAR BY YEAR
WHILE IN HER PLACE THE SCHOOL IS SET
EVERY ONE OF HER SONS MUST HEAR
AND NONE THAT HEARS IT DARE FORGET”
The names were printed on vellum in Old English letters by the art mistress, Miss Simpson. They appeared under the words ‘Men who have answered their Country’s call in defence of a “Scrap of Paper”’ – a reference to the Treaty of London of 1839, guaranteeing Belgium’s independence and neutrality, which was dismissed as “a scrap of paper” by the German Chancellor prior to the invasion of the country.
At the ceremony the headmaster, Mr Mackay, paid tribute to the boys, but was overcome by his feelings when reading out the roll of honour. Professor Darroch, Chairman of Edinburgh Education Authority substituted.
The memorial was placed opposite the boys’ entrance on Park Avenue, and installed in the entrance hall after the move to the new school in 1964. It can now be seen in the main corridor at Milton Road.
With credit to Ian Small
