The 1942 School Magazine

The conflict between advancement and retrogression has now reached the stage when Australia is called upon to be prepared to bear the brunt of an enemy attack. We all know that we are capable of retaliating, and it is the firm resolve of every free-born citizen to strive his utmost to restore peace and honour to the world.

And when eventually the struggle comes to an end there must not be the start of a backward slide — nay, rather another step, a degree higher, in the arduous ascent of the roadway which leads to the time when peoples of all nationalities and creeds shall exist side by side in mutual harmony.

This condition is not entirely inconceivable, especially when we examine the progress of the world even in the past hundred years. For almost three-quarters of that century an equitable share of the toil necessary for such improvement has been undertaken by the Old Boys of this School, and now it is the lot of many of them to uphold the principles built up by their predecessors. They are doing this task admirably, and have won the whole-hearted applause and respect of people the world over.

Soon many of us may be called upon to occupy positions similar to those which they now hold. Let us therefore prepare ourselves, while yet we have the time; for who knows when our hour of trial may come. And until this is revealed, it behoves us not to wait disinterestedly, but to divert our resources into other channels to supply fuel to our war machine, in order to hasten the termination of the war.

As to the result of the peace to come, there can be no doubt. We trust in our cause, for we know that right must triumph, and our cause is righteous. The fundamental of peace, mercy, truth and justice is the beacon that shows us the pathway to Christian living, and with such an illuminant we rejoice that we may see the true course across the pitted and treacherous battleground of world affairs.

(The Head Master's 72nd Annual Report, presented at Speech Day on 12 December 1941 and printed in this issue, recorded the retirement of Mr. A. J. Mason from the Staff [continuing to manage the Magazine]; that his predecessor Mr. Stephenson was at work on the "B.G.S. Annals"; and the death of Mr. F. S. N. Bousfield — forty years' service, Second Master and later Head Master, "a worthy successor to the famous Reginald Heber Roe" — in whose memory the Trustees founded the F. S. N. Bousfield Prize. The issue also recalled the School's WWI record: 1,030 Old Boys served, 82 killed.)

The 44th Annual General Meeting (November 1942) was a pared-back wartime gathering. The retiring President, Mr. E. Griffith Oxley, occupied the chair, assisted by Vice-Presidents Drs. E. R. Row and E. S. Meyers and Hon. Secretary Mr. J. G. Nowlan. The meeting elected Dr. E. R. Row as President for 1942–43 — who, on taking the chair, raised the possibility of establishing a Prisoners of War Fund, and looked ahead to the War Honour Board and the proposed War Memorial. Mr. D. F. Robertson, B.Sc. was elected First Vice-President (recognising his work as coach and captain of the Old Boys' Rowing Club). Mr. Nowlan was re-elected Hon. Secretary "for the thirty-second year in succession."