College updating war honour boards

October 17, 2016

Over the past two years, College Archivist Catriona Banks has been collecting names of SPC’s Old Collegians who have served in the armed forces since WWII, in order to update- honour boards in the College Chapel.

One Old Boy to recently get in touch and add his name to our records is Trenton (Trent) Prince (SPC 1985-1989 (PY1990)), pictured above in a 1989 College class photo. Trent left SPC after completing Year 11 to join the Australian armed forces. He served as a Gunner with the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Cambodia, and was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross for his actions, many of which are described on the Australian War Memorial website as follows.

-Gunner Trenton Prince

As a radio operator with the United Nations operation in Cambodia, Gunner Trenton Prince met both human suffering and danger. On one occasion he came upon a local truck which had careered out of control over a cliff. Prince took charge and organised the rescue and evacuation of the severely injured passengers, gave them first aid and accompanied them to hospital. For this he was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross.

In August 1993, Prince was with a group staffing a post on the Thai-Cambodian border when they were attacked by Khmer Rouge forces. Smashing his radios with a screwdriver to avoid them falling into Khmer Rouge hands, Prince joined his observer team in beating a strategic retreat. They could not go far as the surrounding roads had been mined, and ended up as captives of the Khmer Rouge for eight hours. Prince had kept a hand-held radio, but whenever a call came through from headquarters trying to find out what was happening, he would get a kick or a punch from a young Khmer Rouge soldier.

Whatever the temptations, the Khmer Rouge soldiers did not want to kill a group of United Nations peacekeepers in cold blood. So, in the end they allowed the group to be evacuated into Thailand by local Thai soldiers (who seemed to Prince to be acting more or less in concert with the Khmer Rouge). Two days later Thailand allowed UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia) to send a helicopter to pick them up.-

To read more, click on- this linkand this link

Catriona would be very happy to hear from other Old Collegians whose names are not listed, so they can be added before the honour board updates are organised later this year. Catriona can be contacted on 5331 1688, or by email at cbanks@stpats.vic.edu.au

Listed below are the names of Old Collegians who have served in the armed forces since WWII that Catriona has received so far:

Surname

Initials

SPC Start

SPC End

Where Served

Baker

B J

1962

1964 (PY1966)

Vietnam

Bassett

P R

1983

1988

Afghanistan, Iraq

Beckerath

L F

1962

1964 (PY1965)

Vietnam

Benson

M J

1957

1961 (PY1962)

Vietnam

Brisbane

W S

1958

1960

Vietnam

Cain (Cox-Sutton)

M

1971

1972 (PY1973)

East Timor, Afghanistan; Iraq

Callinan

J T

Malaya

Case

B J

1962

1964 (PY1966)

Vietnam

Cates

S H

1990

1991

Afghanistan

Costigan

D J

1961

1966

Vietnam

Crawley (Navarre)

P N

1961

1967

Vietnam

Crough

P J

1957

1962

Vietnam

Crowe

A T

1959

1963

Vietnam

Cullinan

M J

1961

1961 (PY1966)

Vietnam

Day

P

1959

1961 (PY1964)

Vietnam

Diddams

B F

1988

1989

Afghanistan

Dihm

A M

1989

1994

Iraq

Elliott

M L

1974

1979

Iraq

Every

M W

1987

1992

East Timor-

Firns

B J

1955

1960 (PY1964)

Vietnam

Flynn

A J

1951

1952 (PY1956)

Vietnam

Gallagher

J

Korea

Greer

G

1951

1955

Indonesia, Vietnam

Hanuszewicz

S-

1957

1962

Vietnam

Heenan

P D

1963

1965 (PY1966)

Vietnam

Kemp

J W

1951

1953

Vietnam

Liston

B J

1990

1995

Iraq

Long

R C

1958

1963

Vietnam

Lyons

D J

1957

1961 (PY1962)

Borneo

Mahar

D J

1961

1962 (PY1965)

Vietnam

Mahar

N F

1958

1962 (PY1963)

Vietnam

McCarthy

J J

Korea

McIntyre

I T

1962

1962

Vietnam

Moylan

F J

1952

1953

Vietnam

Nolan

H J

1938

1948

Vietnam

Nolen

B H

1947

1948 (PY1949)

Vietnam

Pardoel

P M

1982

1987

Iraq

Penny

B L

1955

1960 (PY1961)

Vietnam

Penny

R J

1957

1961 (PY1963)

Vietnam, Malaya

Prince

T J

1985

1989 (PY1990)

Cambodia

Rintoul

C B

1960

1964 (PY1965)

Vietnam

Robinson

M R

1944

1947

Malaya

Ryan

T M

1964

1968

Vietnam

Sarteschi

J

1959

1962

Vietnam

Simpson

L M

1994

1999

Afghanistan; Iraq

Slockwitch

G T

1951

1956 (PY1957)

Vietnam

Smith

K L

1958

1963

Vietnam

Smith

M J

1960

1962 (PY1963)

Vietnam

Tierney

F M

1962

1968

Vietnam

Walsh

B P

1959

1963 (PY1964)

Vietnam