Page 14 - Demo

A CARING MAN WHO HELPED MANY MAJOR DAVID W M GAY M.C.Major Gay started teaching at Southwell in Term 3, 1964 and retired at the end of Term 1, 1989. He was appointed a Fellow on 1 November 1989 and was also made an honorary member of the Old Boys%u2019 Association.Major Gay came to Southwell from a Prep school in the south of England. He specialised in teaching French and Latin and was also an enthusiastic cricket, soccer and hockey coach. Major and Mrs Gay and their children first lived in a flat that used to be the Matron%u2019s headquarters in the old Homestead. His son Richard attended Southwell from 1965-67.He was a unique character - famous for his %u201cplus fours%u201dHe always referred to the opposition on the sports field as the %u201cenemy%u201dPrize Giving 1989: %u201cAt the end of Term 1, we farewelled Major Gay. Tributes by many people noted his dedication to high standards and the personal interest shown to so many pupils both in the classroom and on the cricket, hockey and soccer fields. Many friends of Southwell have kept in contact with David and Yo in their new home in Cambridge. We wish them well in their retirement.%u201dGeoff BurgessHeadmaster______________________________________________________Notes of the Major as recorded by the HeadmasterWe could all remember the stature of this very proud man - with his staunch English traditions standing in front of us at class, dressed in his plus fours with his Marylebone Cricket Club tie and of course those size fourteen highly polished Oxford Brogues shoes that sometimes had common reference to our Khyber Pass.The Major was my Form Master, Social Studies and French teacher. We didn%u2019t always see eye to eye when it came to learning French and the adventures of Zuzu in A la Page. He was determined that we would achieve at school; he was deeply concerned about our welfare and the correct development and grounding for future life.On the sports field, he was my Cricket and Hockey coach. He tried so hard to encourage my left handed bowling action. Time and time again we worked together on perfecting this action, with very little success, but he still encouraged me to keep trying and not to give up.But my greatest memory of this man was his ability for story telling and to just spend some time with us in the school grounds for a chat.When he said %u201cGet out your atlas%u201d we knew we were in for an adventure, stories of Gallipoli, D day, The Desert Rats, Charlie Upham, and the North African campaign. We followed so intently with our atlases and it was all linked with coloured drawings on the blackboard - we called it Social Studies. The adventures that Major Gay walked us through cemented those characters and places in my head and enhanced my joy for travel and learning about history.He had a wonderful way of teaching with the way he imparted his knowledge and wisdom. Southwell can be proud of the influences that Major Gay has had on so many children and we are all thankful that he chose to teach at our school in that era.To quote my father: %u201cI felt that in the army Major Gay%u2019s priority was the welfare of his men.%u201dLest we forgetBrendon Bullick