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   Nairobi School Hockey Team - March 1930

  
Photogallery
Nairobi School Hockey Team - March 1930

Photo & text supplied by Cynthia McCrae (née Astley) and Alastair McCrae (Rhodes 1943-1946)
- originating from the photo albums of Bernard Astley (Headmaster 1937-1945)

Nairobi School Hockey Team - March 1930

    L-R:
    Standing:
    ?, ?, ?, ?
    Seated: Hudson Boyce Aggett, Norman Larby, J Twells-Gross, Bernard Astley, ?
    Front: ?, R S (Reggie) Alexander

    On 11th Aug 2008, Webmaster received an e-mail from Dr. Michael J. Aggett (Rhodes 1959-62):
    Hudson Boyce Aggett was Head Boy of the Prince of Wales School in 1931. (According to the board which used to hang in the entrance to the school quadrangle, another boy was also named Head for that year. One of them must have left mid-year, which one, I never worked out!). After leaving school Hudson studied agriculture at the Glen Agricultural School, Bloemfontein, South Africa. I believe he was the Manager, Molo Creamery, when WW2 broke out and he signed up.

    Hudson was drowned in 1944 when the British troopship, SS Khedive Ismail, was torpedoed by the Japanese off the Maldives. 1,297 people (including 77 women) lost their lives. Only 208 men and 6 women survived. It was, according to definitive history, the single worst loss of female personnel in the history of the British Commonwealth. The fate of the passenger liner was to be the 'third worst merchant shipping disaster throughout the Second World War.'

    Hudson and his older brother, Aubrey (my father), had jointly bought a small farm in Sotik before the war. This is where my father started his own farming operations when peace eventually came.