RGS Roll of Honour
The RGS Roll of Honour contains the names of 298 Old Novocastrians who gave their lives whilst on active military service, since 1914.
Their names are carved into oak panels which clad the Memorial Organ, the heart of our Main Hall. The organ was unveiled in 1923 to commemorate Old Novocastrians who were killed during the First World War. It was built with the generous funding of our then Chair of Governors, Sir Arthur Munro Sutherland. After the Second World War more names were added.
A detailed Roll of Service was compiled shortly after 1918, by teacher A.R. Laws. This was created from information shared with the school by Old Novos on active service and their families.
The RGS Archives holds hundreds of these original letters, some of which include photographs with them.
Before 2023, only the names of those on the Second World War Roll of Honour were known, with no additional detail on their lives or military service. Thanks to the painstaking research of Old Novo David Goldwater, we now have far more complete details for almost all of those who fell during the 1939-1945 conflict.
In 2023, seventeen names not previously commemorated were added to two new organ panels. They are of individuals killed in both the First and Second World Wars, as well as two names post-1945. We are grateful to our Old Novocastrian community who brought these names to our attention. Our thanks and gratitude also goes to Old Novo David Mole, who generously funded the new hand-carved oak panels.
You can find out more about all of the people named on our Roll of Honour on our digital Roll. This is accessible on our online archives catalogue:
Read the stories of each of the seventeen people added to the RGS Roll of Honour in 2023:
