Friday | 11 November | Victoria Hall & First World War Memorial in front of Clark House
We remember…
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, not the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
we will remember them”
Once again, as is part of our proud 159-year College history, staff, boys and old boys gathered in front of the World War 1 Memorial outside Clark House for the annual Remembrance Day ceremony. With the sounds of the Last Post and Reveille echoing across the campus, the ceremonial laying of wreaths and the lowering of flags, the College community gathered to honour and remember.
On this day, the Maritzburg College community, again remembers and honours the 261 Old Collegians and three teachers who died in various wars and skirmishes since 1873, when the first name appeared on was has become a tragically long yet distinguished Roll of Honour – that of foundation scholar Robert Erskine, killed fighting with the Natal Carbineers in the Drakensberg.
This year, the ceremony bore the proud theme of “Three New Fallen”, as the school honoured and remembered three Old Collegians whose deaths in 1900 during the South African War remained a secret to Maritzburg College for 120 years, until their links to the school were brought to our attention during the COVID 19 pandemic. Grateful thanks are extended to Mr Kevin Jordan, historian from Glenwood High School, who in 2020, provided College with this information, and today, 122 years after their deaths, College can finally pay proper tribute to them.
After the wreath–laying, guests moved to the Wall of Remembrance for the unveiling of seven new plaques, and to join with family and friends of these members of the College community
whose lives we honoured attending the ceremony. The ceremony concluded with the unveiling of a plaque inside the Victoria Hall to commemorate the three additional names of Old Collegians who lost their live in the South African War.
In the words of OC Alan Paton:
“Old Walls that echoed to our cries,
Our oaths and prayers and laughter,
And echo now to cries of those
Who follow after.
“When earth has taken back to earth
Our unremembered bones’
Preserve the echo of our names
About your stones”
Pro Aris et Focis