ABOUT 20 World War II veterans attended the unveiling of a roll of honour board at St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace, on May 2.
The honour board features the names of 1046 former Terrace students who fought in World War II – 83 of whom were killed in action.
The old boys who served in the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force, and Merchant Navy, as well as Britain’s Royal Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the United States Army, and one war correspondent, were identified with help from the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs, the Gregory Terrace Old Boys’ Association and the College Foundation.
Department of Veterans Affairs deputy commissioner David Mackrell helped unveil the honour board in a ceremony in the college’s Chapel of the Holy Family.
Mr Mackrell spoke about one particular Terrace old boy, Frank Hubert Deshon, who died of starvation and disease on April 24, 1945, aged 38, as a prisoner of war at Sandakan camp in Borneo.
He said the college had ensured, with the honour board, that the names and perhaps some of the stories of Terrace old boys would live on in the college’s memory.
Students also shared stories about grandparents and relatives who fought in the Second World War.
