2014 was the centenary of the start of World War I. It was a war of unimaginable brutality and many brave Sons of Sedbergh gave their lives in this great conflict. Their names, inscribed as they are upon the walls of the Cloisters, in Chapel, and in House memorials, are separated from us by time and technology. They belong to a different age, universally described as a gilded but Lost Generation. However, one hundred years later, time has not diminished their sacrifice and human endeavour. They fought for freedom and a world that we all now enjoy. We, as a nation, have made a commitment to honour and remember them.

The Club understands this duty and embraces it. We therefore established the Pilgrimage of Remembrance. It was our tribute to Sedberghians of another age who fought and died but who are not forgotten. The Club, in conjunction with the School archivist, Katy de la Rivière produced e-biographies of each of the 260 OS who died. Each is an interesting and moving story and can be found on the website. These interesting and moving stories were researched by a team of volunteers working with the school archivist. The biographies were written by Richard de la Rivière and reviewed by Club President Neil McKerrow.

INTRODUCTION AND THE OS CLUB MISSION

As well as OS Club members, this project has involved contributions from a great many volunteers and researchers: Katherine Chorley has worked over many months to update our Roll of Honour and to locate and scan photographs in the school collection; Alix McDermott, Jonathan Woof and Zander Skill have worked to locate and scan photographs from within the school collection; Stuart Hemsley and Naomi Cox have worked through the school records to locate useful sources of information about the casualties; Enrique Jimenez Lopez has worked to research casualties from school records and amalgamate information about the cemeteries involved in the project; Pam Hall has offered her military advice and connections to help us root out some of the more hard to find details for which we are immensely grateful. We are very grateful to Richard de la Rivière who has written the 250 biographies featured in this Roll of Honour, supplementing material gathered by school based researchers with his own research from external archives.

During 2016, Jonathan Woof researched each of the 198 WW2 casualties in preparation for the next stage of the project. With help from fellow volunteer Joan Lennox, Jonathan has worked through the school archive to find every mention of each of the casualties and to identify any photographs held in the school collection.

In addition to these contributions from individuals we have been very lucky to have the help and support of a number of regimental museums and offices. Thank you to: Cardiff Castle Museum, Cheshire Archives and Local Studies Centre; Cheshire Military Museum; Essex Regiment Museum; The Fusilier Museum; The Fusilier Museum of Northumberland; the Highlanders’ Museum, The Keep Military Museum; King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum;  Lancashire infantry Museum; Lincolnshire Archives; Museum of the Mercian Regiment (Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters collection); Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire, The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum; Royal Artillery Library, Woolwich; The Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum; The Queen’s Own Hussars Museum.