A solemn group of Grade 8 learners from St Henry’s Marist College were led by pipe players from the MOTHs to the Bell Tower where they placed white crosses of remembrance in honour of those who died in the great wars and other world conflicts. The tower also held a two metre wooden cross with the service numbers of the 18 alumni of St Henry’s Marist College who fought and died during the Second World War, carved into it.
Since 2014, research on the 18 alumni has been conducted by history teacher, Mr Gary Brits. Two soldiers, with their pictures, stories from their school life from the 1930s and 1940s as well as their war details have been shared. This year, Bombardier Gerald James Hughes and Lt Kevin Aloysius Kelly were honoured. Lt Kelly was a SAAF pilot and flew for the 142 RAF Squadron. A copy of his 1943 war diary can be read at the Campbell Museum. While at St Henry’s in 1937, he was part of a very successful rugby team when he was 15 years old.
During the Second World War, while flying a Wellington Bomber, he was shot down after a successful bombing raid in Czechoslovakia. He and his crew tried to escape via the Alps. They escaped by jumping out of the plane, however, the plane was too low for their parachutes to deploy and they all died. He was 21 years old. He is buried at the Klagenfurt War Cemetery in Austria.
Bombardier Gerald James Hughes was part of the South African Artillery, Second Anti-Tank Regiment. While at St Henry’s he was a prefect and a very talented rugby and cricket player. He matriculated in 1937. During the Second World War, he was part of a five to 10 man gun crew. He was killed in action during the tank battle, Battle of Mersa Matruh (Egypt), on 27 June 1944. He was 21 years old. He is buried at El Alamein War Cemetery in Egypt. Further eye-witness accounts from World War 1 were shared together with one by Grade 8 learner, Joel Blair, who shared an escape story about his great Grandfather, Mr Stew Kell. In it he told the tale of how he and two of his best friends escaped an Italian concentration camp, with just his 10cm long pocket knife.
The service was carried out by Father Sean Mullin who not only honoured the alumni war heroes, but also paid tribute to the Marist Brothers who have passed away over the years.
If anyone has any information they would like to share stories about the St Henry’s alumni war heroes, contact the school directly on 031 261 7369. The eighteen alumni are Cecil Boyd, John Harter, Jameal Paola, Denis Chambers, Jack Holt, Vivian Richards, Andrew Cragie, Gerald Hughes, Percy Smith, John Davies, Kevin Kelly, Cecil Sumner, Patrick Dillon, Jack McDonald, Patrick Swann, Phillip Everitt, Alexander Mash and Lynus Wallace.
