I want first to highlight three stories:
First, is that of , a star athlete and head of school at Toowoomba Grammar School in Australia, who died when a German shell landed on his trench in France on February 25, 1917.
Second, is that of former Benenden School boarder Major Vanessa Lloyd-Davies of the British Royal Army Medical Corps who treated injured Bosnia war children under fire in Sarajevo, but later took her own life in 2004.
Third, there is The Rev , who attended Christ Hospital School and Gordonstoun School, and died from exhaustion after helping children and other passengers on the SS Benares after it was struck by a German U-boat in October 1942.
Each of these moving and poignant stories involves young people who served their country. They are linked because they each went to a boarding school somewhere in the world.
And their stories can now be found on the , a new website dedicated to students, staff or volunteers who lost their lives in conflict, or served in other ways, from any current or former boarding school.
The first global digital archive of its kind, it is a gift to the world: open to members and non-members of the BSA, and designed for teachers, historians, students. In fact, it’s for anyone interested in military and social history to explore, research and remember.
The platform is a living memory and research tool built to grow for generations and already contains 8,000 names.
Each of these moving and poignant stories involves young people who served their country.
The book was officially launched in September 2025 by BSA, the world’s largest boarding network with more than 600 members in 40 countries. It marks the start of its 60th anniversary year and to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2.
The venture is a collaboration between BSA and digital archive specialist SDS Group, who have built and hosted it.
As well as leading BSA, I am also lucky enough to be director of this project, a role which has allowed me to focus on the journey of creating a unique resource for schools and families.
It was actually soft-launched on November 11, 2023, and this has given us two years to sign up nearly 130 participating schools from Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland and the USA.
Around 40 schools have so far shared information in the digital archive in their own dedicated area, whether that’s a few stories or an entire digitised archive showing where fallen students are buried. Others will share theirs over the coming months.
Around 40 schools have so far shared information in the digital archive.
When it was launched, we thought it would primarily record students who lost their lives in two world wars. But it has rightly been more subtle and complex than that and we have had to broaden its scope along the way.
Should the website include, for instance, those who lost their lives at a school which was once day but is now boarding, or vice versa? Or should we include the names of students at a girls’ school who volunteered as nurses in WW1 but did not lose their lives?
And what about boarders like Winston Churchill or Alan Turing who made such a huge contribution during conflict but were not actually part of the armed services and again did not lose their lives?
Or those who took part in more recent conflicts in the Middle East or even in the US Civil War?
The archive can never make up for the sacrifice of those who names appear in it.
The solution was to make the book as inclusive as possible, especially if that means including the names of those who fought against each other on different sides.
To help BOBOR’s deliberations, a panel of distinguished honorary patrons has kindly offered guidance and support including General Sir Tim Radford, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Air Vice Marshall Suraya Marshall and former US General Walt Lord, who all went to boarding school.
Alongside these is a panel of equally distinguished military advisors, including historian and former headmaster Sir Anthony Seldon, author of The Path of Peace, and Sarah Wearne, author of To Our Brothers, Memorials to a Lost Generation in British Schools.
The project has also gained the support of a range of partners, including , the Western Front Association and the Australian Boarding Schools Association.
While our “book” can never make up for the heroism or sacrifice of those who names appear in it, it can bring together the names of those whose common links are conflict and boarding schools, for the first time, for eternity.
Anyone interested in taking part, finding out more or supporting the BOBOR project can contact director Robin Fletcher via
