Ridley Timeline Becken

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    School Enrollment

    From 1929 to 1932 Ridley grew in numbers but after 1932 the population of Ridley stayed the same. This could have been because of the depression.
  • St. Catharines Royal Visit

    In June, 1939 cadets from Ridley College were among the garrisoned troops who greeted the King and Queen when they came to visit. The majority of those who were there for the visit later went on to join the Canadian Army or their own national military force.
  • Young Old Ridleians

    Tomy Cassels was aboard the ill-fater liner with his twi freinds, David Jennings and John Woods were returning home from Liverpool when the war broke out.
  • Young Old Ridleians

    The hundreds of youngOld Ridleians were reported for active services in the Second German War.
  • Ridley sends students to Europe for the war

    On March 3rd, 1941, Ridley College announced that they would be sending a certain amount of students from the cadet force to Britain for the war. This was around the end of the Battle of Britain and it could be linked to the Battle of Britain because of the interest in aviation at Ridley during that time.
  • Promoted OR

    R.J Leach was promoted to the rank of brigadier, he was the first OR to get this rank from the Royal Canadian Artillery. This matters because many people were getting distinction in their obictuary, and this is important because it shows hope in a different way.
  • old boys went to the university

    In 1941, there are only 22 boys went to the university
  • Foreign Students arrive

    In 1941 Ronald Bryden arrived in Canada as a West Inidan student. Students from the British West Indies began to come to school at Canada rather than England because the war was occuring.
  • onld boys went to university

    In 1942, 19 boys went to the university, and 4 boys went into the university of totonto.
  • Poems for England

    In 1942, students were writing poems on the war and Winston Churchill. They were hyper aware of the events of the war, even knowing the names of significant generals. They knew all of the world leaders and held a spectacular interest in foreign affairs. This is a stark contrast to today wherein you could have 15 Ridley Students in a room and only one of them would even have a hint who the prime minister of England is.
  • A Ridleian gets an award for Battle of Dieppe

    A Ridleian, Lieut. John Gibbons got an award for being a Dieppe Hero in the Battle of Dieppe.
  • Springtime at Ridely

    Springtime at Ridley was adored by Ridley students. By the 1943 te boys were war-wise and they clearly undertood that spring was not only a time of cricket and track-and-field, but also the time when the conflict had to come again to assault-time. They knew that they were going to war- to fight and to protect the Motherland.
  • Ridley's Second Blackout

    On this day the students and faculty experienced its second blackout, the first one being the last year. The procedure was oranized in the way a lockdown or a fire drill is organized today. Most students went to designated areas at the school rink and some even went to sleep instead of going to the basements. As quoted in the yearbook "We feel sure that we could handle ourselves in a real air- raid"
  • Donald Cameron Plaunt Dies

    Sergeant- Pilot Donald Plaunt was killed on an operational flight over Germany. He came to Ridley in 1937 and was an avid participant in many school activities. He left in May 1941 and participated in aerial bombings.
  • Summer survey

    91.5% students support the cadet programme and believe that they should receive further training. Firstly, this is because they have morse code and practical war training. Secondly, because their family and friends were fighting and dieing in the war. The war questions were mixed in with random opinion questions such as what newspaper they read making it seem as if either the war was a common topic or that the school was attempting to make it one.
  • Signal Corps

    Great efforts have been put in by the Signal Corps. Nearly all the cadets have learned the crossed flag insignia.
  • Capt. Iggulden

    A sergeant of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment and two District cadet instructors reported to Capt. Iggulden. The cadets changed their program of commanding from flights to platoons.
    Capt. Iggulden provided an exceptionally smart gym nd Cadet Crops. His son, Andy Iggulen, was captured at Singapore and for 3,5 years in Japanese prisoner-of-war capm.
  • Samuel Heaman's Medals

    The collection includes both American, Canadian, and British medals. Some of them read "The Pacific Star" , and "The 1945 Star" as well as the Purple Heart. It is interesting that him, a pilot in the military, has three different nationalities of medals. Perhaps he was fighting in the Pacific on the American/ British side.
  • Growth of school population

    In 1945 through 1947, the school population had began to recover, we see this as there were so many students there were three football teams.
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    Ridley College Recreational Shooting in Cadets

    Even 22 years after the war Ridley still involved shooting and rifle pratice in cadets. Band officers were involved as well.