OLD GUILDFORDIANS
He joined the AFP in 1988 and went on to hold several positions , including working in the Organised Crime Intelligence Unit , as a team leader of Operations of Close Personnel Protection and Chief of Operations for United Nations Police in East Timor . He was a Superintended at The Hague in 2003 , a Superintendent of Child Protection Operations and the Acting Commander in the Hi-tech Crime operations . He had also been an Acting Assistant Commissioner for Serious and Organised Crime .
Reece left the AFP in 2011 to join the Northern Territory Police Force as Assistant Commissioner , Crime and Specialist Services . In April 2015 he was appointed as the Commissioner of Police and Chief Executive Officer of the NT Police , Fire and Emergency Services .
On becoming the Commissioner of the AFP In October 2019 , Reece said rejoining the AFP felt like he was coming home . “ The AFP , like Guildford Grammar School , is to me about deep-rooted connection . I am proudly a police officer , but also proudly an Old Guildfordian – in part , the former because of the latter .”
Reece said he has been indebted to Guildford Grammar School for decades in many ways . He was recently contacted by his former Bennett Housemaster , Robert ‘ Rube ’ Edmonds ( Staff 1969-2002 ) and his wife , Wendy , after seeing Reece appear on the ABC ’ s Q & A program . Mr Edmonds provided Reece with some positive feedback on his Q & A contribution , but then dealt a blow ! Mr Edmonds still had the House Diary that recorded contributions to the Bennett House emergency fund . He sent Reece a photo of a diary entry which showed he still owed Bennett House a debt of 10 cents !
While that debt has been resolved , Reece is unsure he will ever repay his debt to the teachers , tutors , mentors and for the friendships forged at GGS .
On receiving his Old Guildfordian of the Year award , Reece spoke about how GGS has been a beacon for so many parents for 125 years and how the culture ensures each student has the same opportunities . He also spoke of the deep respect he holds for accomplished Old Guildfordians and the significant contributions they have made to Australia . These included Slade Drake- Brockman ( He 1926-1931 ), Professor Louis Goldie ( He 1933-1936 ) and Dr Angus Turner ( Henn ’ s 1988-1994 ).
More can be read about the achievements of these individuals in the List of 125 Accomplished Old Guildfordians in this edition of Forward . Reece said , “ These exemplary Old Guildfordians , showcase not only a triumph of Guildford Grammar School , but of Australia .” He added , “ I am truly humbled to be among them who , in many cases , have made the world a better place .”
Thank you , Reece , for your outstanding contribution to Australia and its citizens . Congratulations on being our Old Guildfordian of the Year .
Vale : Remembering John Pope and John Lyall
John Pope 11 March 1918 – 26 September 2021
John Campbell Pope ( Prep / St Georges 1928- 1935 ) was born in Katanning in 1918 , the third son of Dr Edward and Olive Pope . He attended Katanning Primary school until the age of 10 . He then joined Guildford Grammar School as a boarder where he became a prefect , captain of swimming and a member of the 1935 winning Alcock Cup football team .
John wanted to go to university , however with two older brothers studying medicine in Melbourne and two younger sisters at Kobeelya Church of England Girls ’ School in Katanning , his family could not afford it . So John joined the Commonwealth Bank .
John became engaged to Helen Brisbane , daughter of David Brisbane CBE , a prominent WA engineer and director . They had known each other as children in Katanning when Helen was a boarder at Kobeelya and later reconnected at a Karrinyup Golf Club Ball .
After the beginning of World War II , John volunteered for service and joined the WAraised 2nd / 28th Battalion , which was sent to the Middle East in early January 1941 . In March , as part of the 9th Division , the battalion was sent to Libya to garrison an area east of Tobruk , a strategic deep-water Mediterranean port . In April , after a strong attack by the German Africa Corps under General Erwin Rommel , the battalion was forced to withdraw to Tobruk and helped defend it for the next six months .
John Pope
The Allied troops were given the name ‘ Rats of Tobruk ’ after pro-German propagandist William Joyce , better known as ‘ Lord Haw- Haw ’, began describing them as living like rats in underground dug-outs and caves . The term became a badge of honour .
As a company sergeant-major , John was a major player in the 2 / 28th ’ s unsuccessful attempt to take the heavily defended German posts , known as Sugar Six and Seven , in August 1941 . The action cost the battalion dearly with 88 killed , wounded or captured . John was one of those captured and taken to Campo 57 in northern Italy .
After the Italian surrender in September 1943 , John was taken to Lower Silesia in Germany . In late 1944 with the Russians advancing on the Eastern Front , the Germans started moving prisoners to the west of Germany , fearful they would become part of a larger invading force if freed by the Russians .
In January 1945 , in the middle of a freezing winter , they began a 30-day march . On day
17 , John and two mates , Tom Comins and Allan Beecroft , escaped . Their freedom lasted three days before they were recaptured , handed over to the Gestapo and taken to cells inside massive underground tunnels within a mountain near Nordhausen where V1 and V2 rockets were being made .
While awaiting execution by a firing squad , their lives were spared by a senior Gestapo officer , who could not understand why Australians would cross the world to fight in a conflict he perceived was not their problem . The trio were sent back to join the other prisoners without any punishment .
During an air raid in late March 1945 , the trio escaped again , eventually linking up with American troops who provided them with travel passes , food and clothing . They commandeered a German officer ’ s vehicle and drove to Paris . They were soon ‘ reacquainted ’ with Australian authorities after being spotted swanning around Paris by a British military policemen . They were transferred to Eastbourne in England before being repatriated to Australia .
Despite requesting to rejoin the 2 / 28th Battalion fighting in New Guinea , John was discharged from the army in July 1945 .
John and Helen married in August 1945 and John rejoined the Commonwealth Bank in Katanning . He transferred to Perth in 1949 and was eventually appointed Branch Manager at Cottesloe , also taking on the role of president of the CBA Managers ’ Association .
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