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Following WW2 Magdalene College set out to produce a comprehensive ‘War List and Roll of Honour’ to memorialise those members of the College who were lost in the war. A circular was sent out in 1947 “to every old member of the College matriculated since 1900” requesting information to be returned on a provided notecard “to include civilian national service as well as service in the armed forces, and to include all honours, awards, and decorations.”
Over the next few years, the individual notecards were returned to Magdalene College Office. The College Office processed and consolidated the returned notecards and later commemorated those who were lost on the World War Two memorial located in the Chapel. The individual notecards were preserved and are now in the Archive.
Transcript of the 1947 Circular
'War List and Roll of Honour. Since the publication of the second College Bulletin and War List in September 1941 the College Office has attempted to maintain similar records. The office has been handicapped, however, by shortage of staff and the absence of regular information, and these records are known to be incomplete and inaccurate. The College now contemplates the production of a comprehensive War List and Roll of Honour. In order to secure the greatest possible completeness and accuracy of detail, this circular is being sent to every old member of the College matriculated since 1900. The College would be grateful for the completion and return of the enclosed card, so that existing records may be corrected and brought up to date. It is intended to include civilian national service as well as service in the armed forces, and to include also all honours, awards and decorations. Where an old member of the College is known to have lost his life as a result of the war, this circular is being addressed to his parents; it is hoped that they will supply details of their son's war service. There may be cases, however, where the College has no record of death, and where in consequence the form of address used may have caused pain to widow or parents. To them the College desires to offer the most since apologies; every effort has been made to avoid such mistakes, and it is hoped that it will be understood that those which remain are due solely to the incompleteness of the available information. Some old members of the College, or their parents, who have visited Cambridge recently or maintained correspondence with the Master or one or the Fellows, may know that the information now requested has already been given; it has been thought, however, that any attempt at discrimination in the distribution of this circular would have been likely to lead to further errors, and that the probability of some duplication was preferable to the risk of any omission. War conditions have undoubtedly caused many unrecorded change of address: many of the circulars sent out before the compilation of earlier lists were returned by the Post Office marked 'not known'. Further, the replies now received will provide the material for a thorough revision of the College address-list. The largest possible number of replies is therefore desired. Any information likely to be of assistance towards this end will be greatly received: for instance, information from one old member of the College regarding another's change of address, or concerning men matriculated before 1900, to whom, before of their war service, a copy of this circular should have been sent.'
Replies
Although most returned the completed postcard containing details of war service, others also included additional material such as letters, funeral cards, obituaries, and official military papers e.g. copies of release orders.
Statistics Gained from the Returns
747 card replies
104 additional items e.g. letters etc
784 total names (7 duplicate names listed)
129 names on the WW2 memorial
115 names on WW2 memorial have additional information on the replies [see Excel box list]
14 names on WW2 memorial, no data in Excel box list
65 names on WW1 memorial, 1 name on Excel box list
705 served in WW2
6 served in WW1
5 served in both
336 British Army
9 British Indian Army
10 Indian Army
2 Government of India
75 Civilian Defence/Service
60 H.M. Government
112 RAF
60 Royal Navy
7 US Forces
1 Merchant Navy
1 Military Police
1 United Nations Relief
2 Conscientious Objectors
14 Prisoners of War
52 mentioned in dispatches
129 medals/awards won:
26 Military Cross [these were included on the memorial]
6 DFC [Distinguished Flying Cross]
6 DSC [Distinguished Service Cross given for service at sea]
1 KCB DSO [Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and Distinguished Service Order awarded to Trafford Leigh-Mallory]
1 GM [George Medal awarded to David Alexander Methven]