Scotch College

How were these men linked to Scotch?

Scotch honoured their service in World Warr II, but today we are unsure who they were.

W. D. Anderson

On the World War II Honour Roll in the Memorial Hall is the name of W. D. Anderson. Awkwardly, I feel unsure about who he was.

The only pupil named W D Anderson that this could be is William Donald Anderson (1926), who was born at South Yarra on 24 April 1913. After leaving Scotch, he was a Cadet Midshipman in the Royal Australian Navy from 1927–30, but the school has no record of his life thereafter nor any record on his death – or not a record that has survived.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records a William Donald Anderson as dying in 1941 in an air crash and defines him as ‘civilian war dead’ (yet curiously gives him the rank of Captain and the DFC). Unlike armed services casualties, the data on this civilian are thin and lack the usual details of age and parentage, so it not possible to say that this man and our Scotch boy are one and the same person.

(Also, it gives his nationality as ‘United Kingdom’. But when his brother Newton Edward Anderson (1924) was killed in action in 1944 it gave the same nationality to him, so perhaps the family had moved to Britain?)

Thomas Keith Anderson

Thomas Keith Anderson, born on 9 December 1909 in Caulfield, Victoria, known as Keith, attended Scotch 1925-26. A Thomas Keith Anderson who enlisted in 1944 in the RAAF (next of kin, Beatrice Anderson) was discharged in 1945 as a Flying Officer in 14 Airfield Construction Squadron. This airman gave his birth date as 7 December 1909, in Malvern. Are the Old Boy and the pilot the same person?

Stirling Henry Crosthwaite

Canberra records a Henry Benjamin Stirling Crosthwaite, born at Euroa on 12 September 1910, as serving in the RAAF. His next of kin was Margaret Crosthwaite. Can this be the same man as the Scotch pupil Stirling Henry Crosthwaite, born on 13 September 1910, whose parent or guardian when he entered Scotch in 1923 was H. Crosthwaite, Moroco East, Tocumwal?

B. J. Fogarty

This name and an RAAF service number are on a note in OSCA’s wartime records. It seems to indicate Birkett John Fogarty, born at Somerville, Victoria, on 2 February 1919, and whose next of kin when he enlisted in 1940 was Dorothy Fogarty. The connection of this man to the school is now unknown.

W. J. Malmfield

The OSCA Yearbook, 1945, p. 39, lists W. J. Malmfield on active service, but the connection of this man to the school is now unknown.

William George Marshall

During World War II, OSCA sent a Collegian to W. G. Marshall VX47441. His army records show his full name was William George Marshall, born 12 May 1920 at Moonee Ponds. When he enlisted in 1940 his next of kin was Ethel Marshall. When discharged in 1945 he was a private in the 2/23 Battalion. The connection of this man to the school is now unknown

Alan Keith Miller

The OSCA 1945 Yearbook, p. 46, lists A. K. Miller as serving in the RAAF. Canberra records an Alan Keith Miller in the RAAF, born at Melbourne on 19 January 1912 and living in St Kilda when he enlisted in 1940, his next of kin being C. Miller. The connection of this man to the school is now unknown.

J. A. Moodie

The OSCA 1945 Yearbook, p. 40, names a J. A. Moodie serving as a private. The only Scotch Old Boy who matches this is James Alan Moodie (born at Seymour on 13 February 1912; died 26 Sept 1999). But Canberra has no record of his having served, nor indeed any record of any J. A. Moodie having served. Can anyone throw light on this?

If you know who any of these men were, and their link to Scotch, please let me know.