Author: Peter McCullough

OBITUARY John Aylmer Leaver AO RFD ED 1930-2018 School chaplain THE Reverend John Aylmer Leaver AO RFD ED died on 15 May at the age of 87. It was estimated that more than 900 attended the memorial service which was held at The Ansett Hall, Peninsula Grammar, on 24 May. Best known as the chaplain at Peninsula Grammar, a position he held for 24 years, the Rev Leaver also played a key role in the setting up of a number of Christian schools and he was a long-time chaplain in the Army Reserve. In 2000 he was awarded the AO…

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FORMER Peninsula Grammar headmaster Harry Alexander Macdonald, passed away on 3 April at the age of 86. Mr Macdonald was the second headmaster at Peninsula and led the school for almost 20 years (1971-1991). His time of leadership saw the school go from strength to strength; it became a centre of academic excellence with an outstanding co-curricular program. Glenmaggie, the school’s Outdoor Education Campus, became an important part of every student’s program. The H A Macdonald Pavilion and oval at the school are named in his honour, and in 1972 he received the Order of Australia for “services to education.”…

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LATE in 2014 Keith Stevens, DFM, a long-time resident of the Village Glen at Rosebud, was informed that the President of the Republic of France had awarded him the highest level of chevalier (or knight) of the French Legion of Honour. The award is recognition for “..risking your life for the liberation of our country 70 years ago.” This latest honour adds to those previously received: the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM), which was presented by the King at Buckingham Palace, and some 20 others from UK, French, Polish, and Australian governments. Created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, Keith’s Legion of…

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Frankston’s Avenue of Honour In her book “Echoes from the Front”, Val Latimer tells how as early as 1917 a committee was formed to honour all those from the Frankston District who served in World War One. This was to take the form of an Avenue of Honour along Melbourne Road, now the Nepean Highway. Trees were planted and brass plates were fixed to posts in front of each tree. By 1957 work was underway for the construction of a new six lane highway: the trees were removed and the plates placed in storage. Of the original 216 name plates…

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