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Walter FITZGERALD (BOND) OA
1896 - 1976
Walter Fitzgerald Bond was at King's from Lent 1911 until
Summer 1913 along with his elder brother Basil. Both boys were
in Meynell. While at King's Walter sang as a tenor, was a sub
prefect in his final year, played fives and represented the school at
football. After King's and service with the Worcestershire Regt in
World War 1 he became a stockbroker, not taking up acting until
going to RADA in his late twenties at which time he dropped
the name Bond, and worked as Walter Fitzgerald. Among his
numerous film and TV credits were - Colonel Lumsden in Noel
Coward's In Which We Serve (1942), Squire Trelawney in Treasure
Island (1950), Cyril Beattie in he Camp on Blood Island (1958)
and Sennex in Dr Who (1968). Walter Fitzgerald as the Air Raid Warden in
he Cruel Sea (1953)
his is a brief extract from his unpublished autobiography in which he remembers the happy days he had at King's
(reproduced by kind permission of his grandson Benedict Bickley).
At the age of fourteen I left home for
the first time to become a boarder
at King's College, Taunton. After
the Grammar School at Ashburton
it was like entering another world:
the imposing College building
with its long corridors and fine big
dormitories, and the lofty chapel
which played a large part in our
education, since it was a Woodard
School. he playing fields were
large and reputed to be the best in
Somerset, and there in the summer
months I would watch the Rippon
brothers open the School innings.
hey later became the Somerset
County opening pair. I was impressed
too by the smartness of the Officers'
Training Corps turning out on
parade with the School Band, under
the command of Captain Chambers
who had served with distinction
during the Boer War. hen there
were the outings to the Rifle Range
at Langport, where we fired at real
targets, with real live ammunition,
and the annual summer camps at
Salisbury and Aldershot, attended
by contingents from all the public
schools. But the highlight of my
school career happened during the
Coronation Year of King George
V [1911], when the decree went forth that His Majesty would hold a
General Inspection of all the O.T.C.
contingents in Windsor Great Park.
It was my first experience of royal
pageantry. Being a country boy I had
never even seen the Changing of the
Guard, and here before my eyes, and
as it seemed for my own especial
benefit, was the entire blinding
regalia: the silver breastplates of the
Life Guards flashing in the sun; the
richly caparisoned horses of the
Horse Guards Mounted Band; the
Bandsmen in their golden uniforms;
the immaculate ranks of Foot Guards,
with their busbies, scarlet tunics and
steel bright bayonets. And, to cap it
all, King George himself, in his Field
Marshall's uniform, riding in his
Landau, between the open-order
ranks of the O.T.C. boys in their
comparatively shabby and ill-fitting
khaki uniforms. he day was hot, the
parade was long, and cadets were
dropping like flies with giddiness and
fatigue. But I managed not to miss a
minute of that never-to-be-forgotten
day.
King's College was run on the best
traditional public school lines.
he discipline was strict; Prefects
had considerable power and were allowed to whack with the slipper,
but the cane was reserved for the
exclusive right of the much revered,
feared and respected Headmaster,
the Reverend e.b.vincent, irreverently
nicknamed Buggins. He was a keen
golfer and practised his shots on our
behinds with much fervour. he birch
was reserved for the more serious
offences in the main hall before the
whole School. When a first eleven
match was being played, we all had
to turn out and watch. I was once
put in the dreaded Report Book for
kicking a ball about during one of
these matches. he deposition read,
"Total lack of Public Spirit", and I had
to go to the Head's Study to receive
my punishment, six of the best: a
drive, a brassie, number one iron, a
niblick shot out of the bunker, this
called for a very hard jab, and two
putts, though surely they would have
overrun the Green! But it was all in a
day's work, and I bore no resentment.
We thrived on incredibly bad food,
got used to the smell of incense in
Chapel, and behaved, I suppose, no
better and no worse than most other
boys. I conceived a great affection for
King's, and looking back can honestly
say I spent some of the happiest days
of my life there.