English School Uniforms: Personal Experiences in the 1940s


Figure 1.-- .

We have a few personal accounts or images from the 1940s which provide interesting insights on school life and school uniform. One observer reports attending Dudley Grammar School during the War years. The boys wore caps and jackets. The school had a blazer, but many boys could not afford them. We see a boy at a county school oufitted in a smart uniform with long trousers right after the War. Another observer tells us about the several different schools he attended during and after the War.

Short Comments

Some HBC readers have provided brief comments about their school days. These do no really justify an entire new page, but they certainly are worth noteing. Here re the comments we gave recdived or noted about the 1940s. Olease let us known if you hav found interexting items to add here.

Grammar School and the Blitz (The 1940s)

I was a pupil attending Dudley Grammar School from 1941 to 1947. The required dress was a mid-grey uniform. Caps, originally consisting of light blue and dark blue horizontal circles, and later of light blue and dark blue vertical quadrants, also had to be worn. One HAD to wear the cap to and from school, otherwise one would incur detention. DGS was a strict school, and one flouted the rules at one's peril. The change from horizontal rings pattern to the triangular quadrant pattern occured about 1943/44. Blazers were allowed during the summer term, consisting of a very dark blue worsted material. The school badge, consisting of an outline of a castle, with the leters D G S intertwined, was displayed on the breast pocket, as it was on the standard jacket and trousers uniform. Blazers were a luxury during the war, and were only purchased by the well-off families

Jimmy and a County School (1946)

Here is a small photograph from a photo albums of a long-deceased lady from the North-West of England. It came in a small card folder and has the following written on it, "Jimmy aged 8 3/4 years, took at Blackpool, Aug 25, 1946 For Auntie Daisy." The boy's clothing looks in remarkably good condition so this was probably a new uniform for a new school. It is also interesting that he should have clothing like this at a time shortly after the war when rationing was still very much in evidence in England. 2nd hand clothing or hand-me-downs would have been more likely for most boys so he must have had very proud parents. The monogram on his cap and blazer appears to say CCS - the CS probably means 'County School' but the 'C' could be one of many places. He has a typical short-back-and-sides haircut and lace-up shoes that appear to be reasonably new. He wears a 2-button wool single-breasted blazer, white shirt with wide lapels and a school tie. His jumper was probably not part of compulsory school uniform. It is also interesting to note 2 things about his grey trousers - firstly, how wide they are and secondly how short they appear to be. Maybe the trousers were, at least, 2nd hand. Also note how his blazer is a little big for him. This was exactly the time when garments were bought for the child to 'grow into' more than ever due to the economic austerity.

Patrick's Prep School

A HBC reader writes, "I would be happy to write about them, but I fear that what I write might well be libellous! My education took place shortly after the war and many of the teachers were completely untrained. Some of them were exservicemen who were out of work. The standard of teaching was very low. We were subjected to physical and emotional abuse. Looking back I believe that some of the children were emotionally disturbed and needed special treatment which was completely lacking. The head teacher was a drinker, the deputy head ran off with his wife and he, the head, eloped with the school cook! You may well ask how, in spite of all this, I have some affection for the place. As children it was all we had, and there was the security of an institution. I can look back and laugh at the appalling teachers who, at the time, were positively frightening. In some strange way I have affection for the place! The school features in the Apertures Press Boys’ Preparatory Schools but I am sure that in the 1980s it was a very different place."

Primary and Grammar School (The 1940s-50s)

I started school in 1943, halfway through the war. I was 5 yers old. From then, until 1950, I attended four different primary schools in two different cities. None had a specified uniform, but all boys dressed more or less similarly. At the age of 11 or about 1948, I joined the Boy Scouts. We had Baden-Powell hats, drilled with staves and boys wore their school shorts, while the leaders wore khaki shorts. At the age of 11, I sat the 11-plus exam and passed for the local grammar school for boys. This was a long-established and prestigious seat of learning in a northern city with a grim but imposing appearance. I well remember going to buy my new uniform armed with a very detailed list supplied by the school.









HBC-SU





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Created: February 29, 2004
Last updated: 9:27 PM 3/17/2006