The Hahn Schools Conference 20th July 1954 Araxos aerodrome, Patros, Greece.

The three Dakotas of the Hellenic air force were late and our small group was waiting in the dark. It was very warm and the cicadas had stopped singing for the night. The silence was almost total, except for a few remarks of the reception officials. Then the distant drone of the approaching planes raised hectic activity to light the flare path and a hundred tired students and Prince George descended from the planes and were driven in lorries to Patras where they embarked in the naval sloop “Machetis” (Warrior) and were brought to Argostoli, the port on the island of Cephalonia.

The great earthquake of 1953 had devastated the island and it was still a site of ruin and rubble. It had been the idea of Prince George of Hanover, the brother of the Queen of Greece, and headmaster of Salem, to organise a group of boys to help rebuild an old folks home in the port of Argostoli. Volunteers were collected from the group of schools belonging to the “Conference of Internationally-minded schools” founded in Geneva in 1950 and later dissolved in 1970. Characteristically, for that time, the only two heads engaged in the operation were, Prince George with the planes, and myself the head of Anavryta, waiting below. However, the Gordonstoun group was led by housemaster Roy McComish who took charge of the party when it sailed round the Aegean, in the sloop, after the project was over.

The great success of the enterprise was due primarily to the inspired leadership and example of Prince George and for all engaged in the enterprise it has remained a unique and fascinating experience. Although my responsibility was largely in Athens, dealing with the supplies and the authorities involved, I visited the site several times and was so impressed that I decided to try and create a permanent organisation to deal with such emergencies.

In June 1954 I visited Gordonstoun and was present when Kurt Hahn resigned as headmaster after a prolonged and serious illness. The success of the Argostoli project coupled with Hahn’s retiring, led me to believe that co-operation between our schools was imperative if the principles and practice of the founder were to survive. His dominating personality had carried the movement so far, but even he was not immortal.

In 1955 the heads of Salem, Gordonstoun and Anavryta met in Athens to attempt to start such co-operation. The plan was doomed to failure from the start as we were too far apart to enable consultation. The failure was mine and some years were to pass before I had worked out a valid and detailed plan.

In 1959 I returned to London and got a job in the Foreign Office and in 1960 Roy McComish founded Box Hill School and my elder son became a pupil. The benefactor who provided the finance turned out to be a Scientologist, which meant nothing to me, but curiosity caused me to read one of Ron Hubbard’s books and I forced Roy to do likewise; somehow we got rid of this menace. However not long after the benefactor withdrew his financial support and demanded £5000 for the goodwill. Such was the confidence of the parents in Roy that we elected a governing body and raised the necessary money. This crisis brought me into close contact with Roy, both as a parent and as a governor. He became my best friend and Box Hill became the administrative centre for R.S. for many years and Kay Holland has continued the tradition up to the time of writing.

In 1962 I learned that my appointment to the Salem directorate would start in either ’63 or ’64. This meant that the plan I had devised could go ahead with Salem as my base. To enable projects to be prepared and co-operation to be constant, there had to be an annual conference, but the Conference of Internationally-minded Schools had taught me how dull and esoteric such meetings could be. Therefore why not have a kind of grid conference: the horizontals being the different nationalities and cultures and the verticals the four main groups concerned: the heads, the governors or trustees, the staff and the students. It ought to work but the first failure had made me cautious and, in the event, the suggestion was for bi-annual conferences and then only for heads. But it seemed to me that “once aboard the Lugger” both problems might solve themselves. If it caught on, then annual conferences would be seen to be necessary. If we got the governors to come as guests, they might stay; and if the conferences were always held in schools, then the participation of staff and students should follow in due course.

The principal objective would remain projects of all possible types from emergencies as in Argostoli, to classroom co-operation. Hahn’s colours were to be nailed to the mast. However, it would not be all Hahn: There were two themes I wished to develop that were not his: (see page 3 of the “Muscles”).

“There were two themes I wished to develop that were not Hahn’s. He believed that if students of different nations co-operate in acts of service for those in need or distress, this will be especially effective in removing national prejudice. Of course I believed this too, but I also wanted them to understand their basic differences and gain enrichment from their varied cultures and mentality. Bishop’s College found the correct formula 25 years later naming their conference “Celebrating differences”.

Secondly, no doubt over-simplifying, I believed in the importance of discussion and Hahn believed in persuasion. Dr. Meissner – the man who knew him best – writes to him: “You are always trying hard to convince and you do all the talking. Whoever does this will, often, not know what the other man is thinking”.

This was the reason for my insisting on a conference, as well as the projects. Confrontation and arguments seemed to me essential in an international association, as it is not appreciating the counter arguments, that courts danger.

We were going to have to find an expert on running international conferences and somehow we should have to find the cash to pay him or her. Then an internal Foreign Office circular appeared on my desk advertising a vacancy on the academic staff of the International Conference centre run by the F.O. at Steyning in Sussex. I applied for the job and joined Wilton Park on the 1^st October 1962 and remained there until I took up my appointment in Salem on January 1^st 1964. The success of the R.S. conferences has been startling. Of all the parts of R.S. they are the only section which has not been altered over the years. We owe a considerable debt to the F.O. and I suggest that the Secretary of State be invited to the 50^th Conference!

1962 and 1963 were years of intense activity; Roy and I listed all the schools which we considered had adopted Hahn’s ideas, or had included them at their foundation, these were: in Scotland, Rannoch and Dunrobin, in England, Abbotsholme, Battisborough and Milton Abbey, in Germany Louisenlund, In Switzerland Aiglon, in Africa Achimota, in India The Doon School and I had also heard from Hahn of the forthcoming foundation of the Athenian School in California. Gordonstoun, Salem, Anavryta and Box Hill were, of course , taken for granted.

My travels were limited by a lack of funds and we had to rule out Africa and India for this reason. Two schools, after my visit, turned down the offer of joining, Abbotsholme and Aiglon. In the first case the head of Abbotsholme, Robin Hodgkin, a climbing companion of mine, rightly maintained that Reddie, the founder of the school, had inspired Hahn and that the school had its own tradition. I had known John Corlette for many years and admired the originality of Aiglon. He was not conviced by my proposal and turned me down. However, he changed his mind and came to the 1967 meeting in Gordonstoun. I assume he had consulted Henry Brereton, whom he knew well from his time on the staff in Gordonstoun and was converted , as Henry was an enthusiastic supporter of the idea. At Milton Abbey there was little interest and I became convinced that the search should be more for an interested and active head than for evidence of Hahn practices in the school. There was never any doubt about Battisborough or Rannoch or Louisenlund. Dunrobin had manifold teething problems and I added to them when I was asked to report to the Countess of Sutherland on the suitability of the castle and had to point out that the accommodation of the boys above the cornice would make their escape almost impossible in case of fire. However, the school closed before we could realise the election.

Athenian presented a formidable problem but I was convinced that we must have, at least, one school outside Europe. Hahn spoke highly of Dyke Brown who had been a pupil of his in Birklehof and I believed in former Naval officers in principle. Once again the goddess Tyche turned up trumps on Foreign Office territory in the guise of Mrs. Lemon Clark of Fayetteville Arkansas, national president of the League of Women Voters. Learning, at Wilton Park, that I had not visited the U.S., she offered to arrange a Texan travel grant for 1000 dollars and to present me with her third car – an old Borg-Ward – which she said should reach the west coast but probably give up on the return journey. (She was right, it collapsed in the Nevada desert.) In return she asked me to lecture to groups of the L.W.V. in Alabama in the deep south. This I did for a week and learned much. I drove alone across the States and back in the summer of 1963. On arrival at Alburquerque I joined route 66 and headed for Oakland where Dyke was living. He was very busy, hoping to open Athenian in 1964. With Kate’s help we got in 2 hours discussion and I was immensely impressed by their plans and my scheme seemed insignificant when I followed on.

On my return to the U.K. I found that Roy joined me in regarding the accession of Dyke to be the most important candidate of all and we were most disappointed when he had to delay the opening until 1965 and thus call off his attendance in Salem in 1966. However, there was discussion after the Salem meeting which showed that a few of the chosen heads doubted the validity of such an ambitious step and Robert Chew, head of Gordonstoun, warned me that a compromise might be approved that Dyke be elected Hon.Member instead. At the meeting in Gordonstoun in 1967 I placed on the agenda, as final subject, a report by Dyke Brown on the problems of education in California. He spoke for 20 minutes and it was quiet and brilliant and after that there was no further doubt about his being elected.

When I drafted the proposal of the Salem meeting for his signature in 1966, Prince Max added the Atlantic College: this was proposed by a member of the board there who had been one of the first boys in Salem, Julio del Val Caturia, and I had taken no action as they had turned me down as Director of Activities in 1960. The Chairman of the board, Air Marshal Sir Lawrence Darvall, had informed me that I possessed neither the qualifications required nor, he felt, the personality to operate in an international community. After that I felt any approach from me would be fruitless. The College renewed the contact a few years later and Roy was sent to visit St.Donats, but they did not apply.

The Minutes of the 20 minute session in the small room at the S.W.corner of the Imperial Hall in Salem, chaired by King Constantine, give an accurate account of this significant beginning. Hahn’s 80^th birthday was a great occasion, but for me the most important moment was a year later, when we elected Dyke Brown and the Band Wagon gave its first jerk forward.

J.W.Y. 28/3/1999