H is for Denzil Heriz-Smith OB 1904-1914

Denzil Heriz-Smith OB 1904-1914

Denzil Heriz-Smith died in 1917 at the battle of The Somme. A boarder at school, he wrote regular letters home and continued to do so when serving in the Great War; these letters and diaries are all in the school archives and there is a display on the landing in the Memorial Hall. His letters and diaries are recorded in the 2007 book From Bedford to The Somme, The Letters and Diaries by OB Tim Machin. In the chapel you will also find the plain wooden cross inscribed Lieut. Denzil M. Heriz-Smith, killed in action 28-2-17.

This excerpt is taken from the chapter Conspicuous Bravery 1915-1928, in the 1999 Michael-De-la- Noy book, Bedford History 1552-2002.

‘He played for the Ist XV, was captain of the gym and a member of the shooting VIII. In 1913 he was made head of school and in 1914 won the Tarburtt Prize, for being the best all-round boy…..He served with the 6^th Bn The Northampton Regiment, and died from severe wounds received on 17^th February 1917; he was 23. Between 1910-13 he kept a diary, now in the school archives, and hundreds of his school and army letters have been preserved. One of the most ironic discoveries from his diary is that in 1912 he supported, but lost, a motion in the Debating Society worded as follows: ‘In the opinion of this House modern warfare would, if conducted on a large scale, be so disastrous that it is necessary to settle all disputes by arbitration’ (page 96).