The story of a Kent school in World War Two
This book will be of interest not just to our ‘Old Girls’, but also to the many others who remember the Second World War, and who are interested both in history in general and in Kent’s role during this turbulent period. It will be of interest to students who were here when Mary Smith was Headteacher, and who were some of the first to revisit the tunnels when they were opened up again in 2013. The history of MGGS is highly valued by our current students who take great interest and pride in the role the school has played over the last century and who value the contribution that those who have gone before have made. This book will also be of interest to our many primary school visitors who come every summer to experience what it must have been like for so many young people at school between 1939 to 1945.
As with many Kent towns, the story of Maidstone during World War Two is a fascinating one. The town was considered a haven for evacuees from London, but was also effectively in the frontline, with the Battle of Britain fought in the skies overhead. Later in the war, the town fell victim to doodlebugs. For Maidstone’s children, while normal life continued as far as was possible, the war years brought disrupted schooling, frequent air-raids, shrapnel-hunting, night bombings, and repeated visits to wartime shelters.
At Maidstone Grammar School for Girls, art teacher Miss Helen Keen recorded many of these moments as they happened in a unique and evocative collection of her artwork, which she modestly called a “scrapbook”. The paintings and drawings reproduced in this publication are all taken from Miss Keen’s wartime scrapbook, and appear here alongside contemporary records from the school and the reminiscences of “old girls” now in their 80s and 90s.
Details of how to purchase the book in time for Christmas will be available shortly. All proceeds will go to the school.