A Prized Pupil!: Of a Boys' Boarding School in the 1940s

Having become displaced from home as an evacuee in 1942, the idea of boarding school is exciting to young Roger Wallace.

His head full of Tom Brown’s Schooldays and Stalky and Co., he soon discovers that boarding-school in the mid-20th century is not all that different; with bullying and beatings in abundance, especially the latter!

With the school being based in rural Devon it is not affected greatly by the war, other than a lack of food. But for Roger, originally sent away from Croydon because of the bombing and with family in the armed services, the brutal reality of war strikes him through the death of a brother which, in turn, becomes a milestone in his own coming of age.

Despite all this his school life is generally happy, with many good friends who share and collude in his experiences. And he has his first intimate relationship with Gladys, the girl who works in the kitchens.

Drawn from the author’s own experiences, this is a brilliantly evocative story of a young adolescent boy – not just a tale of boarding-school life. We share in his laughter, his stresses, his love, sex, and his tears of sorrow.

Although rising from the bottom of the pile, Roger Wallace remains a bit of a rebel, and perhaps only he would describe himself as ‘A Prized Pupil!’