Whittaker, Andrew. 2025. A Lost Generation: Myth or Reality? A Study of Pupils of Colfe's Grammar School, Lewisham Eligible for Service in the First World War. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis]

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Abstract or Description

This thesis evaluates the validity of concepts of a ‘lost generation’ of British men in the context of the First World War, in particular, disproportionate levels of death and dislocation and disillusionment. It does so through a study of alumni of Colfe’s Grammar School, Lewisham eligible for military service that examines their socio-geographic background, pre- and post-war migratory behaviour, service patterns, engagement with commemorative processes and life outcomes. The analysis reveals significant quantities of cohort loss to pre-war outward migration but far lower (and not as disproportionate as some) levels of war-related loss through death. Although those who served and survived largely dissociated themselves from their wartime identities, despite the literature of alumnus Henry Williamson, there is no widespread evidence of disillusionment. Notwithstanding the disruption of the war experience, most men appear to have readjusted to civilian life well in terms of personal relationships and suffered no reduction in life expectancy. The majority resumed the same or similar pre-war employment (often with the same employer), maintaining the same level of social status. In essence they picked up their lives where they had left off. Post-war migratory patterns also suggest enhanced demographic stability and a heightened sense of domestic national identity. It is tenable that the availability of pre-war merit-based public funding for secondary education at Colfe’s for those from modest backgrounds led to a ‘found’ rather than ‘lost’ generation. More generally, the thesis argues the notion of a ‘lost generation’ consequential upon the war is mythical in origin but has taken on the form of a reality connected to the war dead with the passage of time. It also argues this is partly attributable to the influence of popular culture in the latter half of the twentieth century but more significantly to a continuing sense of engagement through familial connection.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.25602/GOLD.00038805
Keywords:	First World War / Colfe's School / Lewisham / London / Education / Lower Middle Class / Migratory Behaviour / Commemorative Practices / Life Outcomes
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	History
Date:	30 April 2025
Item ID:	38805
Date Deposited:	13 May 2025 13:23
Last Modified:	13 May 2025 13:23
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/38805

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