World War One interpretive plaques unveiled

On Wednesday 20 April 2016, a plaque commemorating the service of Old Wesley Collegians in World War One was unveiled on the War Memorial Forecourt at the St Kilda Road campus.

The interpretative plaque was sculptured by Dr Ross Bastiaan AM RFD (OW1968).  Ross has an international reputation for his interpretative plaques that are found at battlefields and memorials and other significant sites all over the world.

Ross was commissioned by Wesley College to produce a plaque that would enable current and future students in further understanding the war, Australia’s participation, and the involvement of 1,100 former Wesley students in that conflict.

The plaque, measuring one metre square, weighs 85kg and has over 700 words of text, two historic photographic etchings, and features a trench scene sculpture.

On the same day a similar plaque was unveiled during the Elsternwick campus’ Anzac Day Service. The unveiling of a plaque at the Glen Waverley campus has been deferred due to the recent fire at the campus.

The Principal, Dr Helen Drennen AM, said, “This year marks the one hundredth year since the four marble lions were dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in World War One.  The plaques by Dr Bastiaan are a most fitting tribute and provide a new way to communicate that historic event to our students and the wider community.  This is part of the commitment made 100 years ago that the school would not, and will not forget the deaths of nearly 160 former Wesley students in World War One”.

The College acknowledges the Victorian Government through the Victorian Veterans Council and the Federal Government through the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program for their part-funding of the plaques.