Page 3 - Memorial Groves

The Memorial Groves

The establishment of the Memorial Grove project followed the publication
of the Hale School Old Boys’ Association publication, “Veldt to Vietnam -
Haleians at War” [1994], written by the School Archivist/Curator, Mr Bill Edgar.
The book records Haleians who served in all the conflicts in which Australia has
been involved, from the Anglo-Boer War [1899-1902], through the Great War
[1914-1919], the Second World War [1939-1945], the Korean conflict [1950-
1953] and finally to the Vietnam War [1964-1972].

As is recognised on the back cover of the book:

‘Few institutions in this country’s history can boast an armed services’
involvement such as that of Hale School. In almost every theatre of war,
through the Boer War, 1914-18 Great War, World War II to the Korean and then
Vietnam conflicts, Haleians have been there.

There are over one hundred personal stories from this microcosm of Australian
society. Each is different from the others, but the common thread is their old
school which loomed large in their minds, whether they were on the perilous
beaches of Gallipoli, in the appalling mud of the Flanders trenches, flying
Hurricanes in Russia or suffering on the Burma-Thai railway. Those thoughts
sustained them and helped, eventually, to bring most of them home.

The construction of the Hale School Memorial Grove began in 1999 with an
inaugural ceremony and the planting of pine trees on the 26th April 1999.