Today, you can walk from the Saracens ground at Allianz Park to Frank Henry Sandom Satchwell’s 1911 home at 125, Sunny Gardens Road, Hendon, in less than 15 minutes. In 1902-04, when the club was still playing at Crouch End or Southgate, Frank would have had a slightly longer journey to pull on his Saracens…
One of our key goals in this project has been to identify and share the final resting places of our Saracens who lost their lives during the First World War. We are very grateful to the Lottery Heritage Fund for their support in this regard, and hope that our initial tour of the WW1 battlefield…
Upon the outbreak of war on 4th August 1914, our Saracens 1st XV forward Walter Cairns Black wrote to his parents, confirming his decision to enlist with the London Scottish Regiment “Dear Father and Mother I am writing this letter on the eve of what may be the greatest war the world has known. I…
Having enlisted in December 1914, Norman made the decision to join the ranks, (a decision discussed in the previous blog), one to which the Aldenham headmaster credited to his “extreme modesty.” He spent a year in training in England: travelling between Kempton Park Racecourse, Warlingham, joining the 100th Brigade at Slipstone Camp in July 2015…
Alfred Ball’s war got off to something of a slow start. The battalion, stationed on The Strand in August 1914 was moved to Bedmond (near Hemel Hempstead) and then Watford before mobilisation to France in March 1915. Alfred appears not to have always travelled with them to the front line according to De Ruvigny’s roll…
In our first chapter, we traced the London-based childhood and subsequent career path of our Saracens squad member, Victor Baron Barnett, as he, like so many of his young contemporaries in the first decade of the new century, took on the challenges facing him with both zeal and great commitment. Victor was a member of…
Born in 1887, Victor Baron Barnett spent his formative teenage years in Blomfield Road, W9, where the large and gracious family home faced onto the Little Venice basin, the canal no doubt bustling with longboats, just as it does to this day. His parents Baron David and Kate were both central-London born and had married…
Walter Cairns Black was an integral part of the Saracens side of 1913-14, a side that was to sadly contain no fewer than 6 casualties to the Great War. A proud Scot, and a chemist by trade, Black crossed the whitewash three times that season, a considerable contribution for a forward in the era. Strong-jawed,…
The image of a proud servant to King and Country resonates from Alfred Austin Ball’s service picture, taken upon his joining of the Civil Service Rifles in 1913. Before serving his Country in the Great War, Alfred was to serve Saracens with great distinction. Despite being the tender age of 20, Alfred was entrusted with…
Saracens Rugby Club and W.W.1 