Norman Melluish (1917-1921) and Keith Melluish (1915-1920)
Amidst the dark days of the winter lockdown a small package arrived in the post for the attention of the archive. With a boyish enthusiasm dating from early Christmas mornings, I opened it up to find two boxes each containing a bronze medal. They were sent by Christopher Melluish and they had belonged to his father, Norman Melluish who was at Merchant Taylors’ from 1917-1921.
Norman had a distinguished career at Merchant Taylors’, notable for his contribution to the Officers’ Training Corps and school cricket. He lead No. 3 platoon and oversaw its victory in the Thomas White Shield in 1920 and 1921. The Taylorian tells of a highly impressive Inspection Day on July 21st, 1921 where the inspecting officer was Col. J.E. Turner. It would appear that Norman Melluish’s No. 3 platoon distinguished themselves in a recreation of a fight against a mock German machine gun post. It’s hard to do justice to the description of the action, with rattles being used to simulate machine gun fire, the attack being launched via the school steps and the angle of the Chapel Wall. Eventually, after “gallantry on both sides” the post was rushed and captured” and the Taylorian goes on to praise the “ingenious system of casualties, so that the ground was dotted with excellent corpses.” Following the display, Norman Melluish went up to collect the Sir Thomas White Shield and, presumably, the second of the two medals presented to the school this year by his son.
The Thomas White Shield was presented to the school by the Sir Thomas White Lodge in 1902 and was originally presented to the best Army section in the OTC. It was originally displayed in the Great Hall at Charterhouse Square. The shield depicts a raised figure of Victory, holding laurel wreaths in outstretched hands. Three medallions represent men shooting at Bisley, the dogs of war let loose and the gentle occupations of peace. It was recently restored to its original magnificence and is mounted in the Sir Geoffrey Holland Room, which used to be the Master’s Recreation room situated adjacent to the entrance to the Dining Hall.
Norman, was also a distinguished cricketer, spending three years in the XI and captaining it in 1921. He was described a leader through example in both batting and bowling and a good slip fielder. His favourite shot was the leg glance and his captaincy won praise for making the appropriate bowling changes and kept the morale of the team high. The Taylorian was not noted for generous appraisals of the players so this ranks as high praise indeed.
Following school, Norman married Mary Lyon at a ceremony presided over the the School’s former Head Master, Dr J.A. Nairn. They had two sons, including Christopher who has kindly donated his father’s medals to the School. Having fought in the RAF and been awarded the MBE in World War II, he returned to the oil industry and retired as Chairman of Abco Petroleum holdings.
In researching the school career of Norman Melluish, we established that his older brother, Keith, attended the school from 1915-1920. During his final year, he was Head Monitor before heading up to to Caius College, Cambridge, winning a Scholarship. He gained a Blue for Rugby in the 1922 varsity match and we were very pleased that Christopher was also able to supply some photos of his uncle.
Keith is seen meeting King George V before the match.
Keith was switched from a forward to full back for the 1922 season and the match was notable for players wearing numbers on their shirts for the first time – interestingly the previous year, Ronald Cove Smith had been captain of Cambridge. The Light Blues won by 21 – 8.
I am extremely grateful to Christopher Melluish for sending the school archive these wonderful photos and the medals, telling the story of his uncle and father. As with all objects, they opened up a journey of discovery in to the past which gives us so much pleasure to share. Christopher finished off his letter with a story that had been told to him by Norman, his father. As is well known, when the school was at Charterhouse Square the boys would travel to Bellingham in South London to the newly acquired playing fields. During World War I his father and uncle were given white feathers by two old ladies who assumed that they were dodging the war. Apparently, thereafter the brothers travelled to the ground in their OTC uniforms.