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This Remembrance Day, our War Memorial Library turns 100.

The War Memorial Centenary can be experienced via the open house (now in the Great Hall) on 11 November, with memorabilia available for viewing from 12.30-5.00pm with School Historian, Chris Price.

For those interested in attending, please register your interest here. 

About the War Memorial Library

On 11 November 1924, the War Memorial Library was opened. The Headmaster at the time, Mr Bousfield announced that, “the task is accomplished which we set ourselves more than eight years ago – to set up in the school grounds… as lasting a memorial as we could of these men… who day by day were leaving our shores to fight our battles on the other side of the world.”

During The Great War (1914-1918), 1,022 Grammar Old Boys enlisted to fight and 176 lost their lives, along with 2 Masters. It was Mr Bousfield’s sombre duty to inform the School of the growing casualty list. In a small community, everyone knew someone involved in the war. 

In 1917, BGS committed to building a memorial so that “the names and identity of those who took part in the war… should as far as possible, be preserved.” It was decided that the memorial should have some purpose beyond a mere monument. The desire was to build a quiet place of contemplation, “where generations of boys may commune with the great and wise in their books.” The Memorial Committee thus decided on a library building.

The architect was Old Boy, John Barr (1887), who chose a Gothic style felt to be aspiring, warm, emotional and reverent. The stained-glass windows were designed by Charles Tute and commemorate the chivalric virtues as framed by victory and peace. 

The library was to showcase the Golden Book of which there are four leather-bound volumes containing an illuminated page for every Old Boy who served in the war. The records were compiled by Mr Stuart Stephenson, the Deputy Headmaster, and inscribed by Mr C B Fox, President of the Old Boys Association.

100 years on, the War Memorial Library still reminds us of all our Old Boys who have served their country in times of war.

Timeline of Remembrance at BGS:

1916: The Great War service board was unveiled in The Great Hall with the dedication Lecti Juvenes Fortissima Corda - the pick of our youth, our stoutest hearts. At the time there were 640 names on the board.

1917: War Memorial Library fund committee established. By June 1921 subscriptions had raised £3,000.

1921: On July 16, the War Trophies Council handed a field gun over to the School, as captured in Palestine from the Turkish in 1918 by Old Boy, Brigadier-General Wilson.

1922: Justice Woolcock inaugurated the Woolcock Challenge Cup, awarded annually for an English essay or poem on a subject associated with the British Empire’s part in war.

1923: On ANZAC Day, the foundation stone of the War Memorial Library was laid by the Governor of Queensland, Sir Matthew Nathan.

1924: On November 11, Remembrance Day, the War Memorial Library was opened.

(All quotes come from the Official Opening Program of 1924.)