History Society

The Historical Society meets roughly twice every term, but another small part of the busy life of Fettesians. Its importance, however, should not be underestimated. Our students gain access to some of the top thinkers in their fields, something that many going on to study History at university will come to realise is a rare privilege. By listening to these lectures, asking questions and entering in to discussion towards the end of the evening, our students challenge and stimulate their intellect. As importantly, they develop their human qualities; students experience socialising amongst adults both from within and without the school and they benefit from the calming pace of an evening spent considering matters of the past.

The breadth and quality of our guest speakers has been impressive throughout; we have heard of the efforts of Scottish Puritans around the time of Mary Queen of Scots, who was given a damning judgement by Dr Jenny Wormald, of British Empire building in Asia, by the rather dashing Saul David, of the transformation of Ireland by Professor Alvin Jackson and of much besides. Certain evenings stand out and are worth greater mention; Mr Fern, of the Fettes History Department, gave a lecture on Hollywood ’s interpretation of Vietnam using clips from a range of films to entertain and inform. The results of that evening were particularly satisfying and tangible for a number of Upper Sixth candidates writing their individual investigations on Vietnam updated their papers to include a discussion of what they had seen and heard. We have also been graced on two occasions not with Historians but with those who made History ; Brigadier Ian Gardiner brought to life the Dhofar Insurgency, a war he had served in as a Royal Marine. Mr Gardiner gave account of the conflict, its importance at the time and life in Oman , all from first hand experience; it was a rousing occasion. Most recently, we have received Jeremy Crang, of Edinburgh University , and Wallace Cunningham DFC , one of Churchill’s ‘few’, who discussed the Battle of Britain. The evening will last long in the memory; Jeremy introduced the Battle of Britain before Wallace, aged 90, answered questions about his experiences in the summer of 1940. Two moments stand out – Wallace’s recall of all the prisoner of war camps he had resided in (he was shot down over Rotterdam), which included a time spent in Stalag Luft III where Wallace helped to build the tunnel of ‘Great Escape’ fame. The second point of note gave all present the clearest insight in to History itself; Wallace had been asked that very evening by an elderly lady what his tie represented. He answered that it was a tie only worn by Battle of Britain veterans, she thanked him – she was a Polish Jew who had lived through the Second World War.