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Development:
Concordia
Merchant Taylors’ School
The school’s Gallipoli flag, saved from HMS Rattlesnake
in 1916, was fully restored in time for the commemoration of
ANZAC day which fell on the 25th April. This was also the 100th
anniversary of OMT Lt Leslie Drewry winning the Victoria
Cross for his part in the landings.
With support from the Annual Fund, the flag was removed
from its original frame and mounting (an old piece of
blackboard), carefully cleaned before humidification. It was
then mounted on a custom-made padded board and re-framed
with lighting. The flag is now displayed in the Great Hall lobby
alongside the roll of honour and Lt Drewry’s medals.
In an amazing coincidence, after six months of research, the
school discovered the identity of the donor of the flag on 24th
April – the day it was re-mounted on the wall of the Great Hall
Lobby, and the day before ANZAC Day. The original owner
of the flag was Lt Commander John W R Smails who served
in the Dardenelles and was badly wounded. His obituary in
the Halstead local newspaper says that “the scenes at the
Dardanelles had made a deep impression on his mind”. The
flag was then passed to his son, Frederick Smails, who donated
the flag to Merchant Taylors’ School to mark the creation of the
Royal Navy section of the CCF in that year. His son, Stephen
Smails, had joined the school in 1952 in the Third Form as a
member of Hilles House.
Restoration of the Naval Ensign supported by the
Annual Fund