First to Serve and Sacrifice by Dr Daryl Moran

Join Dr Moran for an engaging talk exploring the earliest chapters of Caulfield Grammar School’s history and the legacy of its first soldiers.

‘Suddenly, the Boer opened fire on us from two hills on the left of the road and we knew we had ridden into a trap. We quickly dismounted but were lying out in the open and I was on my back when a bullet hit the ground at the back of my head and threw dirt over my face. That was the closest shave I had.’

Undergoing attack by accurate enemy rifle fire was a common experience of the twenty-eight Caulfield and Malvern Grammarians* who served in Australian, British, or South African units during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 – 1902. Fighting as mounted infantry, they often undertook their 12-month tour of duty on long tedious horse patrols, sometimes riding at night to attack well defended enemy positions, manned by crack enemy snipers.

With Australia under no threat from Boer forces, why were Australians involved in this war at all?

What conditions existed in Australian society and their schools that persuaded these Grammarians to enlist?

‘First to Serve and Sacrifice’ examines the ethos and practice of schools in fostering these ‘Soldiers of the Queen’ and reminds us that these young Australians were willingly prepared to do their duty for God, Queen, and Country. Seven Caulfield Grammarians paid with their lives, while others received serious life-changing wounds.

These previously unpublished stories of the service and sacrifice of twenty-eight young Grammarians’, told in their own words, deserves to be read by a contemporary audience.

Signed copies will be available for $25, with proceeds supporting the Caulfield Grammar School Foundation.

*(Caulfield and Malvern Grammar Schools merged in the early 1960’s.)

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