FDA-A.282-2013
Parts
Object number
FDA-A.282-2013
Object type
Identification
Title
Tricolour
Description
French flag, blue, white and red
Comments
This flag was captured by the Germans, but then retrieved from No Man's Land, by an Old Etonian soldier in 1915.
'Notice the French flag, and underneath it the initials W. G. F. and the words "Bois Grenier."
"The words are full of meaning for those who understand, but they need interpretation for most visitors. W. G. F. (Walter George Fletcher), during his boyhood and the few years of manhood which were given to him, had often dreamed of fighting for England, and it was granted to him to see the battles of his dreams. first came a few splendid years of school-mastering, and then the Great War which he had foreseen. He rushed to arms, fought and suffered and rejoiced in suffering, til the worst of the winter was over, and just before his first and only leave he rescued that flag, crossing No Man's Land and in the dark and climbing the tree where the Germans had hung in derision the precious thing which they had taken from the French. To some of us that flag means more than anything else in the chapel: it represents just 'one crowded hour' of his most glorious life.
Swiftly you won your utmost desire,
Dream-lover, lover of Eton, heart of fire,
You served the school and England, and abide
Safe, with the flag you saved, and satisfied.
His life-story is told in these four lines.
'Fifty Years of Eton', p.30'
[An Illustrated Guide to Eton College / Eton Guide, R. A. Austen-Leigh, 1930, p.63]
'Notice the French flag, and underneath it the initials W. G. F. and the words "Bois Grenier."
"The words are full of meaning for those who understand, but they need interpretation for most visitors. W. G. F. (Walter George Fletcher), during his boyhood and the few years of manhood which were given to him, had often dreamed of fighting for England, and it was granted to him to see the battles of his dreams. first came a few splendid years of school-mastering, and then the Great War which he had foreseen. He rushed to arms, fought and suffered and rejoiced in suffering, til the worst of the winter was over, and just before his first and only leave he rescued that flag, crossing No Man's Land and in the dark and climbing the tree where the Germans had hung in derision the precious thing which they had taken from the French. To some of us that flag means more than anything else in the chapel: it represents just 'one crowded hour' of his most glorious life.
Swiftly you won your utmost desire,
Dream-lover, lover of Eton, heart of fire,
You served the school and England, and abide
Safe, with the flag you saved, and satisfied.
His life-story is told in these four lines.
'Fifty Years of Eton', p.30'
[An Illustrated Guide to Eton College / Eton Guide, R. A. Austen-Leigh, 1930, p.63]
Description
Inscription
Wall next to the flag is lettered: 'WGF Bois Grenier MCMXV'
Materials & techniques note
Silk and cotton textile
Physical description
Very faded
Production
Date
c.1915
