The foundation stone for Birdwood School was laid by the Rt. Rev. Henry Bickersteth Durrant, Bishop of Lahore on 25th August 1927. The ceremony was also attended by the Officiating Chief of the General Staff, (C.G.S) Major-General W. M. St. George Kirke, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O and Colonel Commandant P.R Gervers, the Chief Engineer, Northern Command who was also the chief architect and in overall command of the construction project. The service was conducted by the Principal, the Reverend Canon G.D. Barne, M.A.

Before the stone was laid, the Principal handed the Bishop a copy of the Pioneer [sic] of the day, [presumed to be the periodical or journal of the Pioneer Corps -ed.],  a copy of the School Order of the day, a copy of the service, and a complete set of silver and copper coins bearing the King's head and the date 1927. These were placed in a lead casket which was then soldered down and sealed. The casket was then set in a cavity in the stone footings of the main building, so that when the foundation stone was laid, the casket would be left built into the wall.

Colonel Gervers then handed the Bishop a silver trowel bearing the Arms of the School with which the foundation stone was ceremonially laid. A mallet made from cedarwood timber from the old school building was also used to symbolically set the stone in place.

Construction of the new buildings, the quadrangle and the granite staircase from the Chapel road below was completed in late 1928 and the new classrooms were brought into use in early 1929. At about the same time, the two Turkish field guns presented to the School as World War I trophies by the Government of India were delivered and installed in their present sites. On Sunday 22nd September 1929, following the ceremony for the unveiling of the War Memorial, the new school buildings were formally opened by the Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshall Sir William Riddell Birdwood, (Baron Birdwood of Anzac), after whom the new school was named.

D.V. Boddington
(LRMS Sanawar 1942-1947)
March 2011

Compiled from:

[1] Annual Report on the Lawrence Royal Military School for the year ending 31st March 1928
[2] LRMS ORDERS Part I Order No. 770 dated 17th September 1929.
[3] Lawrence School Orders No. 261 dated 26th October 1951
[4] Civil & Military Gazette, (Lahore) August 1928, (Citation) & September 1929, (article).