SAOBA History Department
Do you know the origins of our old school?
To read the full version of Mr Sean Fleming's History
The abbreviated version:
Thanks to this ship...
S.S. VIKING
On a unique mission in 1940 she evacuated almost the entire child population of Guernsey from St Peter Port. running the gauntlet of air attacks and landing the children (1800 in all) at Weymouth. The Guernsey pupils of Les Vauxbelets college travelled to the North of England, and settled in Hale. Here they continued their schooling until the end of hostilities. Local boys gradually joined the school, and when the Guernsey boys left, St Ambrose College was the result.
Why did this happen?
The Battle of France, May 1940.
Above, a French tank crew "se rendre" to the Germans in 1940
The map below shows the German Army's successful strategy of attack in May 1940.
Many civilians fled from French territory at the time of the attack, as refugees. Among hundreds of others escaping from the island of Guernsey on the SS Viking, the entire school of Les Vauxbelets school was evacuated to England.
SS Viking
The story of SS Viking (launched in 1905) is worth including here.
(Length 361ft . Gross Tonnage 1956.76 Tons. Passenger Accomodation 1st Class 976, 3rd Class 900)
With a trial speed 24 knots, she was built to compete with the Midland Railway Company's "MANXMAN". She was the first Steam Packet Co ship to be turbine driven, and soon proved her speed by arriving in Douglas from Fleetwood in 2 hours 22 minutes on 25-5-1907 (averaging 23.2 knots) also sailing from Liverpool to Douglas in 3 hours.
Viking was converted to a seaplane carrier in World War 1 and renamed HMS VINDEX. She the first ship to launch a wheeled undercarriage plane from her decks, presaging the advent of the aircraft carrier. She was attached to the Grand Fleet between 1915 and 1918 she also saw active service in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Between the wars she was on station with the Steam Packet Co. She was requisitioned for duties in World War 2, in which she evacuated retreating British troops from Le Havre and Cherbourg. On a unique mission in 1940 she evacuated almost the entire child population of Guernsey from St Peter Port. running the gauntlet of air attacks and landing the children (1800 in all) at Weymouth.
Released from War Service in 1945 she sailed the Steam Packet Co routes until she steamed away to the breakers yard in 1954, leaving a wonderful history of 49 years of service.
We thank you SS Viking
Les Vauxbelets is a De La Salle Brothers' School for Boys, on the island of Guernsey, just off the French coast.
Their school motto: Vitam Impendere Vero
Sound familiar?
At the end of the war, the de la Salle brothers and the remaining Guernsey pupils returned home to Guernsey. They embarked on on the SS Hantonia
SS Hantonia
The local pupils remained, and so St Ambrose College continued in Hale. It was initially run by the Presentation brothers, and later by the Irish Christian Brothers