Old Boy Jules Hoffman, who attended BGS from 1944 to 1946, made a special trip back to the School from Sydney with his wife on 28 July 2016, to donate three sporting trophies won by his elder brother Adolph, who was killed during World War II. The trophies included the OBA Cup for Champion Athlete in 1939 and the Norman Waraker Memorial Cup for 440-yard Champion in 1939 and 1940. Headmaster Anthony Micallef formally received them.
"Adolph was my idol and I was very proud of what he achieved academically and in the sporting sphere when he was at Grammar," Jules said. The cups were displayed in the War Memorial Library for Open Day 2016. "He gave the School his all and really appreciated the tutelage he received when a student here from 1936-1940," he said.
Adolph's many awards included the Woolcock Challenge Cup and the Reginald Heber Roe Bursary. He excelled in athletics, cricket and gymnastics, was a Prefect, House Captain, editor of the School Magazine, a member of the school committee and a lieutenant in the BGS rifles. He is listed on several honour boards in The Great Hall for winning the Bowen Prize, Woolcock Prize, Walker Prize, OBA Essay Prize, Cockle Prize and Queensland University Scholarship.
Just two years after leaving BGS, Adolph enlisted in the RAAF, receiving his navigator's wings aged 19, and was posted to a RAAF squadron in England. With only two flying missions left to go, his Lancaster heavy bomber was shot down when returning from a raid over Europe. Flying Officer Adolph David Leon Hoffman was 20-years-old when he was killed in action on Anzac Day, 25 April 1944. He is buried at Heverlee War Cemetery near Louvain in Belgium. The A.D.L. Hoffman Memorial Prize for proficiency in English in Form VI was founded in 1945 by his parents Mr and Mrs C.S. Hoffman and family in memory of their son.
Source: Grammar News Summer 2016.