ARTICLE: Cambridge Men at War

Stick with me, because today I’m going to do something wild. Well, more like simple actually. Instead of bouncing about the globe in search of tales of the underdog and things you’ve never heard of, I want to talk about a collection of letters from British servicemen during the First World War.

Fitzwilliam College is one of the largest attached to the University of Cambridge, but it didn’t always have such status. In fact, it only was only made a college in 1966. For almost a century before that, it was a side door of sorts founded for young men (no girls until 1978) to have a chance at a university education despite limited means. Those means didn’t extend to the money required to attend one of the colleges, and so instead, through Fitzwilliam Hall they could attend under the supervision of a Censor of Non-Collegiate Students.

For the centenary in 2018, the college produced a stunning book to commemorate the war service of some 300 men with ties to Fitzwilliam Hall. I have lovely Judith to thank for shoving this one in front of me and calling ‘Substack.’ My plan is to commemorate just a few of the Fitzwilliam men who served…

There are a number of individuals discussed, obviously, who served on the Western Front. The first casualty of almost fifty connected to the hall was Wilfrid ‘Jerry’ Hirst. His father was the mayor of Rotherham, and when he arrived in Cambridge in 1911, Wilfrid was set on a career in the church.

Wilfrid Hirst. Unless specified, all photos are from the book detailed at the bottom.

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