On 7 June 1971, Old Boy Ian Mathers '65 was one of three Australians killed in action in Long Khanh, Vietnam. Ian was a Flight Sergeant in the Air Training Corps at school. He was then a national serviceman. After graduating as a second Lieutenant from the National Service officers' course in 1970, he was posted to Vietnam with the 12 Field Regiment.
On the 50th anniversary of his death, former BGS Headmaster Brian Short (pictured front row, second from left; BGS First XI 1965) pays tribute to Ian Mathers (pictured middle row, centre):
Ian Mathers was our first national serviceman and our last Old Boy to die on active service. A commemorative plaque to him is in the Great Hall. The inscription contains the final line of Wilfred Owen's poem Asleep: 'he sleeps less tremulous, less cold'.
Old Boy featured: Ian Mathers '65, the last BGS Old Boy to die on active service (Vietnam, 7 June 1971); commemorative plaque in the Great Hall. Tribute by former Headmaster Brian Short '65.