THE adventures of a York schoolboy who fought in the First World War have been collected by his former school.

Oliver Bernard Ellis attended Bootham School between 1912 and 1916, and joined the Royal Naval Air Service to fight in the First World War.

Jenny Orwin, archivist at Bootham School, collected the exhibition from records at the school, and said he was "a fascinating study", even while still at school.

Jenny said: "Oliver was an excellent athlete. He famously broke the school high jump record using the unorthodox technique of diving over the bar head first, only to have the technique disallowed when the rulebook was checked.

"One night, while at school, he used his agility to climb the roof of the York railway headquarters, where he painted his initials. The next day he reported himself to the headmaster, Arthur Rowntree, as by then his epic climb was common knowledge. He was taken to the railway offices to explain and apologise, but surprisingly, they refused his offer to repeat the climb in broad daylight to prove that it was possible."

Oliver sent his family letters from his overseas postings, but was killed in 1917. His family provided the school with the letters, including his final letter home, dated May 3, 1917 - less than a fortnight before he was killed when his plane was shot down.

He wrote: "The chances are one in a hundred in our favour, and there we must leave it, having reduced it to that, and thank God that I’ve got the safest job in this war.

"Don’t worry about me, I’m having the time of my life and am enjoying myself hugely, and the war can’t last for ever."

The exhibit was collected as part of national Explore Your Archive week which runs until Sunday.