Old Boys of Wyrallah Public School Roll of HonourPrint Page

The replica of the original honour roll which has gone missing, commemorates former students from the Public School who served in World War One. 

The original honour roll was unveiled on the 27th May 1916 and contained 55 names. The roll was designed and completed by Mr Moffitt of Lismore Superior Public School.

When Fred Hoskins was a student at Wyrallah Public School he noticed an honour board on the wall that had the name Henry Hoskins painted on it. He went home and asked his dad Sonny whether Henry was any relation. It turned out William Henry was the name by which Freds father had been known at the time hed returned to Australia from World War I. The honour roll was a list of the Wyrallah old boys who had served in WWI. There were 73 of them.

Some time in the 50s the honour board went missing but last year when Fred was archiving material for the 125th anniversary of the school he found a postcard of the roll. He set about getting funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs to commission a replica.

I realised that so many families had moved on or passed on that if I didnt do something the names would be lost forever, Fred said. My father told me stories of the war but he never wanted to talk about the horrible things he saw; he very much focussed on the humorous things that happened. I think thats one of the things that helped him and other soldiers get through: the Australian sense of humour.

You can see a photo of him before he went away to war, he`s a young man with innocent eyes. Four years later it was a different story.

Page MP Janelle Saffin recently dedicated the replica.
Lismore Echo, 19 November 2008.  

Original Honour Roll Unveiling 1916

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Dedication