Historian Sir Anthony Seldon and members of the Gillespie family attend service in honour of the soldier who envisioned the Western Front Way 100 years ago
On Thursday 21 March 2024, Winchester College welcomed the historian and educator, Sir Anthony Seldon to hear about his extraordinary 621-mile (1,000km) journey along the Western Front Way. The journey, from the French-Swiss border to Belgium, was undertaken to commemorate the vision of a ‘Via Sacra’ by former pupil, Alexander Douglas Gillespie.
Gillespie, a 2nd Lieutenant in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise’s) regiment during the First World War, wrote to his former Headmaster shortly before his death in 1915 describing what might be done with the Western Front after the war. Gillespie wrote, ‘I wish that when peace comes, our government might combine with the French Government to make one long avenue between the lines…Then I would like to send every man, woman and child in Western Europe on pilgrimage along that Via Sacra, so that they might learn what war means from the silent witnesses on either side.’
At the Winchester College event, Sir Anthony shared his experiences of his journey and attended the opening of a Western Front Path ‘in miniature’ within the school’s grounds. ‘Gillespie’ and ‘Via Sacra’ plaques were also blessed, with one plaque placed outside Winchester College’s War Cloister memorial, connecting it to the Western Front Path. Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Graham, CB, CBE, formerly of Gillespie’s regiment, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, played a variety of music to mark the occasion.
Reflecting on the event, Sir Anthony Seldon commented, “For every step I took along the Western Front Way, ten people had been wounded or killed. The memory of that journey and Gillespie’s letter has stayed with me ever since. Coming to Winchester College, Gillespie’s former school and home to its own Via Sacra, felt like the natural conclusion to what has been a very significant chapter in my life.”
Elizabeth Stone, Headmaster of Winchester College said, “As a former pupil, Gillespie’s words inspired a generation of people at the end of the Great War, including his former Headmaster. In addition to our Grade 1 listed War Cloister memorial, which has been a daily passage for generations of young people, we hope that the creation of a miniature Western Front Path across the school grounds will serve as a reminder of Gillespie’s hope for a post-war path for peace in Europe.”
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