Photograph of Sir Arthur W Lambert (1876-1948), whilst in serving in the Northumberland Fusiliers during the First World War. RGS Archives.
Churchill at RGS
During the Second World War RGS staff and students were evacuated to Penrith. However, our school buildings on Eskdale Terrace did not lie dormant. They were commandeered as the headquarters of the Civil Defence Northern Region (No.1), under the careful watch of an Old Novocastrian.
Explore the story of RGS during wartime, including when Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid us a visit!
Background
In September 1939, the Ministry of Home Security was established which was responsible for all central and regional Civil Defence organisations. Great Britain was divided into 12 Civil Defence Regions during the war, with a Regional Commissioner having direct control over each area if an invasion was to take place. The role of Civil Defence was to protect Britain at home during the war, including sharing intelligence on air raids.
The Northern (No.1) Region was located in Newcastle, the original headquarters at Watson House on Pilgrim Street. The Regional Commissioner appointed in April 1939 was an Old Novo and former Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Sir Arthur William Lambert.
The Northern Region experienced the first bombing of an industrial area in the war – Eston on Teesside, Saturday 24th May 1940. Sir Arthur Lambert personally attended the devastating scene.
“The Royal Grammar School boys may have been evacuated to Penrith, but the school was never silent - a new, different but busy, life was being lived twenty-four hours a day in the old school."
- Eleanor Nicholson
Taking Over Eskdale Terrace
In June 1941 the headquarters were moved to Eskdale Terrace. Our site was used by other services too - the school field had also been taken over by the War Department, including as a space for an ammunition store; and the rifle range was used by the Home Guard. Whilst these services had tried to protect the buildings as much as possible during this time, with sandbags to protect from bomb blasts piled in the Main Hall, there would inevitably be some impact from their stay.
Some doorways had been bricked-up; three air raid shelters had been built next to the main building; and the school field was damaged.
Photograph of the RGS Main Hall with sandbags, during the 1938 Munich Crisis. [RGS Archives, ref: 147]
Civil Defence armband, owned by Eleanor Nicholson during her time working as Regional Women's Office for the Civil Defence Northern Region, 1940s. [RGS Archives, ref: ENP/6] ©RGS Newcastle
Fire Guard Training Record Card, 1944, for Eleanor Nicholson. [RGS Archives, ref: ENP/2/2]
Newcastle's Defenders
A number of women worked in the Civil Defence HQ during the war. This included Grace Watt, a former school teacher in Gosforth, who was the first woman in England to hold the post of Intelligence & Operations Officer. The team was responsible for recording air raids in the region and their consequences, recording numbers killed or injured. By 1944, the War Room was staffed only by women.
Eleanor Nicholson held the fascinating role of Regional Woman Officer. This was a unique post where her role, in her words, was to find any solutions to any issues affecting women working in any of the Regional Command Centres. She also became a Fire Guard Instructor in August 1944, responsible for training others in Civil Defence how to diffuse incendiary bombs. She recalled, “The only real action was when I defused an incendiary [bomb] in the back garden of 265 Heaton Road." This was in fact her parents house!
Fire Guard Instructor Badge, c.1944, owned by Eleanor Nicholson [RGS Archives, ref: ENP/2/7]
Nicholson even got to meet Winston Churchill when he visited Newcastle, and RGS, in 1941:
"In the course of my duties I was able to welcome Mr Churchill - he only said "Good Morning" and gave his V sign but I was proud to have seen the mighty character who was a tower of strength to us in the dark days."
Ending Evacuation
In late 1943, it was decided that the RGS could safely make its way back to Newcastle, and after a find farewell evening service in July 1944, the boys finally made their way home. A delay to this was the amount of time that was taken for the Regional Commissioner to move out of the school buildings and repairs to be made.
Photograph of Winston Churchill outside of the RGS front entrance, taken 7th November 1941. Ref No: 287, RGS Archives
A Farewell Message from the Regional Commissioner, Sir Arthur W. Lambert, to the Personnel of the Northern (No.1) Region, 1945. Eleanor Nicholson Papers [RGS Archives, ref: ENP/7]
A ‘Farewell’ message was published by Sir Arthur Lambert at the end of the war. His distinct memories of Christmas in the RGS building, singing carols with the organ playing in the Main Hall, are visceral:
"We were a very happy family at Regional Headquarters, and I think that every member of the staff will hold particularly pleasant memories of the three Christmas Eves while we occupied the Royal Grammar School. With my wife to lead us on the excellent organ in the school hall we sang the old carols together before enjoying a cup of tea, and the thought of Bethlehem impressed upon our minds the fact that even this long and dreadful holocaust was only a passing phase and that the great verities of our Faith and existence would endure for all time; and I am convinced that the Christmas seasons during the war have helped us all enormously in bracing up to start each returning year of the struggle with a new determination."