A Brixton school hike that became a Nazi propaganda coup ninety years ago

High on the slopes of a mountain in the German Black Forest stands a Nazi-built memorial to five Brixton schoolboys who died in a blizzard 90 years ago. It’s a …

Jun 3, 2026 - 12:04

A Brixton school hike that became a Nazi propaganda coup ninety years ago

High on the slopes of a mountain in the German Black Forest stands a Nazi-built memorial to five Brixton schoolboys who died in a blizzard 90 years ago.

It’s a grim granite structure but for many years there was little explanation for passing hikers as to why it was there.

On 18 April 2026, I joined relatives of the boys and their fellow students for a memorial service in Hofsgrund, a mountain village near Freiberg, and to learn about what is known as the Engländerunglück, or English misadventure.

We were to hear a tale of incompetence, cover-ups, and Nazi propaganda, all mixed up with Britain’s 1930s appeasement policy.

The story begins at the Strand School (now Elm Court School), a boys’ grammar school in Elm Park, during the 1936 Easter break.

Kenneth Keast, “Keattie”, the school’s popular German master, had organised a walking holiday in the Black Forest and 27 boys, aged 12-17, signed up.

On 17 April, a day after arriving at Freiberg’s youth hostel, the party set off on a week-long hike beginning with a strenuous climb up the Schauinsland mountain (1,284m).

Keast had been warned of an approaching storm but chose to ignore it, later being reported as saying “In England we are used to quite different changes in the weather”.

After walking, rather than taking the tram, to the trailhead, the boys began the climb. However, the teacher’s small-scale map showed only major paths, not physical features, and they were soon lost, ending up taking a circuitous route before finally heading upwards into the snow.

Along the way a cafe owner, two woodcutters and a postman all warned about the coming storm and advised turning back, but Keast insisted on pressing on.

The party was hopelessly ill-prepared with some of the boys wearing shorts and sandals, food consisting of a couple of buns and an orange, and nothing to drink.

Eventually they reached the top of a steep mountain ridge only to be hit by the full force of a blizzard. The boys had been walking in the snow for 10 hours and they were becoming disorientated in the fog.

The group was spread out across the mountainside, with some unable to go on.. As one of the youngest, Kenneth Osborne, wrote in his diary,

“It was snowing and we lost our way … In the evening we climbed a very steep hill and a boy collapsed”

But then the distant sound of church bells could be heard ringing and two of the older boys were dispatched to follow the sound to try to get help.

After struggling down snow-covered terrain they finally reached a house on the edge of the village of Hosgrund. The alarm was raised and a rescue was organised.

It was a tremendous effort and while five boys lost their lives the actions of the villagers saved the other 22 and their teacher.

Ninety years after the rescue, the bells of St Laurentius church in Hofsgrund were ringing once again, this time as part of the memorial service to the boys who lost their lives.

Relatives from seven former Strand School boys and descendants of villagers who had helped in the rescue attended.

A poignant moment came when the priest reminded us that, “the evening toll of the bell became a death knell and, at the same time, a signal of rescue,” followed by the toll of the bell in the silent mountain church.

The service was also a chance to thank Hofsgrund. Addressing the congregation, Jenny Davis, daughter of Douglas Mortifee, one of the two boys who first reached the farmhouse said “Without your help we would not be here now,”

Unlike conditions in April 1936, it was a crisp, sunny spring day as the memorial party headed up a section of Schauinsland.

First stop was the Nazi memorial where Dr Bernd Hainmüller, a former teacher and historian who has been researching the story for 26 years set out exactly what happened next.

Standing in front of the structure, he explained that the story appearing in UK papers was one of an “unavoidable accident” due to the unforeseen weather, with Keast portrayed as a hero who had saved many lives.

However, this narrative began to unravel as inconsistencies in the teacher’s story and his incompetence began to be exposed. Key to this was the father of Jack Alex Eaton, the first boy to die.

Also known as Jack, the owner of a construction business from Clapham Park travelled to Freiberg, interviewed German locals and traced the boys’ route, working out that the ‘official’ story was far from the truth.

This was to be the beginning of a long, lonely campaign against Keast. Meanwhile in Freiberg, the public prosecutor interviewed the teacher and concluded there was enough evidence to prosecute him.

But at this point there were moves to suppress this version of the story. Firstly, local Freiberg officials were worried that news of the disaster could harm the local tourism industry.

Beyond this, the Nazi government saw an opportunity to exploit the calamity for propaganda purposes.

As such, the local Hitler Youth were credited with helping organise the rescue, they kept a vigil over the coffins of the dead boys against a backdrop of the union jack and swastikas, and were pictured playing football with the survivors.

Help was given to repatriate the five bodies. This was all part of wanting to develop friendly relations with Britain. Likewise, the British were attempting to appease the Nazis and so colluded with the unforeseen weather conditions story.

Charges were dropped against Kenneth Keast and he was allowed to return home and resume his job at the Strand School.

It felt uneasy to be told about the re-writing of history in front of the Nazi memorial that symbolised the lies.

Constructed in 1938, it bears no mention of the role of the local villagers. From here, Bernd led us to a smaller memorial very near the spot where Jack Eaton died.

The walk across the mountain gave a chance to talk to some of the relatives, many of whom said that the tragedy had rarely been mentioned, if at all, in their families.

Vanessa Barton, whose father, Russel Petty, survived, mentioned that, “he always had to have a Plan … and on family holidays we were never allowed to climb mountains.” Stephen Hearn, said that his father, Norman Hearn, nearly lost his thumbs due to frostbite.

Arriving at the small cross built by Jack’s father in 1937, Bernd explained that even this was surrounded in controversy. Eaton had wanted it to include the line “the teacher failed them in the hour of trial” but as this contradicted the official version the inscription was not allowed.

Retiring to the sturdily built Hofsgrund community hall, the British and German descendants were able to exchange stories over lunch. Out of this came new bits of information and elements to the story.

One theme that emerged was the feeling that while there are the two memorials on the Schauinsland, and a plaque in the Hofsgrund church, it would be good if there was some sort of memorial back in Brixton.

Max Mitchell, whose elder brother Hubert survived said:

“I would have thought that now knowing that so many people have a connection with The Strand School, that a memorial plaque should be installed to remember not only to the boys who so tragically died but also to the good folk of Hofsgrund”

Of course the Elm Court Centre has no connection with the Strand School of 90 years ago, but it feels like an idea that should at the very least be explored.

One other development is that there are moves in Hofsgrund to fulfil the wishes of Nancy Whelan, niece of Jack Eaton, to add the missing words to the Eaton stone.