Alumny Creek Public School and District Second World War Roll of Honor

About

This war memorial is a timber honour roll for the Second World War. It features decorative timber moulding around the edge and a painting of the crossed Union Jack and Australian flags.  The names of 31 veterans who served in the war are printed in neat gold lettering down two columns in the centre of the board. They would have been ex-pupils of the Alumny Creek Public School or known within the district. The school is located 5km north of Grafton, NSW, and was established in 1872. It operated continuously until its closure in 1969. It was re-opened as a museum in 1988, depicting the typical one-teacher school of the 1930s era.  In 2000, a 'Heritage Room' was established in the former teacher's residence, located adjacent to the school. The room forms part of the museum and houses this roll and the related Alumny Creek Public School and District First World War Roll of Honor. There are also individual framed photographs and profiles of each soldier listed on the rolls. This photographic display is a permanent exhibition in the museum and was established by the Honorary Reserve Trustees.  Men from the Alumy Creek and Great Marlow farming communities, located north of Grafton, were among the first to enlist, and eight paid the supreme sacrifice in the service of their country during the First and Second World Wars. Notes on veterans' names: Bert Cameron saw extensive service in Egypt, Sinai, Palestine, and Syria during the First World War and enlisted again in the Second World War. He subsequently died while carrying out service duty within Australia. John Jackson, John Barnier, and Johnny O’Donohue died at the hands of their Japanese captors in the Sandakan prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Frank Page who was subjected to great suffering during the construction of the infamous Burma Thailand Railway and perished in June, 1943.

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