Wyan School and District First World War Roll of Honour (Destroyed)

Note: This roll of honour no longer exists. It was destroyed in a bushfire in 2019. 

Former description

This war memorial was a timber honour roll for the First World War. It was made of cedar and featured a distinctive curved pediment at the top and four timber columns, topped by Corinithian capitals, positioned across the middle of the board. The pediment was richly decorated with the First Commonwealth Coat of Arms, flanked by the Union Jack and Australian flag. Painted below the coat of arms were sprigs of wattle and red flowers, possibly waratahs. Two cannons were also painted below the pediment, on either side of the words 'Roll of Honour'. 

The four columns created three panels on the board on which were printed the veterans' names. There were 25 names in total, two panels for 'Old Boys' from the Wyan School and one panel for 'District Boys'. Each panel also featured a section for 'Remarks', noting seven men who had been killed and six who had been wounded. 

Fundraising for the memorial was underway by mid-1917. The Richmond River Express and Casino Kyogle Advertiser, 15 June 1917, described in detail a social held on Friday, 8 June 1917 to purchase a roll for the school. The nett proceeds came to £21. 

While is it not known when the roll was unveiled, it was made by Brown and Jolly, well-known builders and cabinet makers of Lismore. They were responsible for a number of timber honour rolls for the war across the North Coast of NSW.

The roll was on display at the Rappville Hall, until the hall was lost in a tragic bushfire of October 2019. The fire also destroyed its furnishings and two other honour rolls: the Rappville and District Great War Roll of Honour (Destroyed) and the Rappville Second World War Roll of Honour (Destroyed).

Note: Research on the soldiers listed in the below table was based on the A.I.F. Project website and Clarence Valley Volunteers: World War I by Tony Morley (Grafton, 2004).

Do you know more about this war memorial? Learn how you can contribute to the NSW War Memorials Register.