Great Scot December 2017 GreatScot_152_Dec_Online | Page 13

ABOVE: TOP ROW: H W HARPER, D G MACKAY, E R FINDLAY, T P ROBERTSON BOTTOM ROW: D G ARMSTRONG, H H GRAHAM, A O GARDNER, J A GRAY
on 22 October a shell burst shattered his arm
and leg at Ypres. He died the following day. Only
in October 1922 were his remains identified by
means of a regimental disc, which was sent to
his father.
GEORGE WOOD (see Great Scot, April
2017) was a teacher at Scotch before enlisting in
September 1915. He had a profound influence
on the school through the songs he wrote,
and his role in establishing OSCA and the
Foundation Day Concert. He was also a great
organiser within his military units, primarily the
58th Battalion, with which he was a lieutenant.
He received a severe chest wound near
Passchendaele on 12 October 1917 and died in
hospital on 26 October.
DOUGLAS GEORGE MORRISON (1913)
was 21 on enlisting in October 1916. He became
a 2nd lieutenant in the 3rd Squadron of the
Australian Flying Corps, but only learned to fly
in 1917. He travelled to France in September
1917. On 13 October while flying a scout plane
he became detached from his patrol and was
shot down by as many as four enemy aircraft.
He crashed in no-man’s-land and was thrown
clear of the aircraft. Several British soldiers risked
their lives to rescue Doug, who was brought
to hospital. Doug’s wounds were severe and
required the amputation of his right leg. He died
on 29 October.
SYDNEY ALLISON NEWTON (1914) left
Scotch at the end of Term 1 in 1914 to become
a naval cadet, preparatory to becoming a naval
officer. He was just 15 years old. During the
war he served in the merchant ship Aparima,
and was aboard when it was torpedoed by a
German submarine in the English Channel on 19
November. It sank in approximately five minutes,
and Sydney was one of 56 crew – about half the
complement – who died. He had undertaken five
voyages with the Aparima and had refused an
offer to transfer to another ship. He was aged just
17 at his death.
JAMES GREER GOULD FAIRBAIRN
(1902) had been a grazier and auctioneer before
enlisting in 1915. His father described him as ‘an
enthusiastic horseman and a good rifle shot’.
James was initially a member of the Light Horse.
In 1917 he served in two camel units in Egypt,
and it was while serving as a corporal with the
Imperial Camel Corps that the 31 year old was
killed in action in Palestine on 4 December.
PERCY SYLVESTER HOBBS (1905), a pre-
war journalist in New Zealand, had a deformity
of the arm and hand which prevented him from
firing a gun. He had a desk job at Papawai camp,
New Zealand, when he took his own life on 15
December, aged just 20.
Wherever they were in the age range from 17
to 46, the Old Scotch Collegians and staff who
died in 1917 sacrificed their remaining years for a
higher cause.
More details about all other Scotch Collegians
killed in World War I can be found on the Scotch
website, under ‘WWI Commemorative Website’
on the lower right of the home page.
DR MARK JOHNSTON – HEAD OF HISTORY
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
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