The war in Europe finally ends with the fall of Nazi Germany in May, and in south-east Asia with the capitulation of Japan in August. It has been the deadliest conflict in human history, with tens of millions of deaths (mainly of civilians) – through the conflict itself, as well as massacres and genocide.

Of the 1945 matric class, five attain university passes, which is an achievement. Mrs Bryn Jones warns that this generation faces grave problems. “Nothing,” she writes, “so far as one can see, in spite of the comfort and apparent security of their lives now, can save the modern child from having to shoulder burdens, only less heavy than actual war.”