Pictures: Sakhile Zondo (UIV Nash) and Yonga Mabizela (UIV Hodgson)
The St John's College community gathered in the Memorial Chapel this week for the annual Remembrance Day Mass, welcoming back Old Johannian families alongside students and staff for this sacred occasion. Simon Mussett (Head of School) laid a wreath as "The Last Post" echoed through the chapel, followed by a moving musical programme that included the Chapel Choir's rendition of Lux aeterna and Libera me from Fauré's Requiem, featuring a confident baritone solo by Dirk Jacobs (Head of Choir).
Executive Headmaster Mr Stuart West delivered a powerful address reflecting on the meaning of Remembrance Day and the enduring legacy of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
We gather as a community of Old Johannians, staff, and Johannians in our sacred War Memorial Chapel, a place built to honour courage, sacrifice, and the enduring hope of peace. Today, we pause in solemn reflection to remember those who gave their lives in the World Wars and those who later sacrificed their lives in the struggle for a democratic South Africa.
As wars and suffering continue to scar our modern world, our Solemn Requiem Mass of Remembrance stands as a reminder of the immense cost of peace and freedom. Gifts we must never take for granted.
Among the many stories of bravery that echo through our College's history, few speak more powerfully than that of Fr Eustace Hill, who volunteered to serve as a Chaplain with the South African Brigade in France. His courage during the brutal battles of Delville Wood and Butte de Warlencourt was matched only by his deep faith and compassion.
In the chaos of the Somme battles, Fr Hill ventured repeatedly into no man's land under relentless shell and machine-gun fire, comforting the dying, praying with the wounded, and carrying many to safety. He was gravely injured, losing his right arm in late 1916, and though awarded the Military Cross for gallantry, he never wore it, believing it belonged not to him but to the faith order that built St John’s and shaped his service.
To Fr Hill, bravery was not heroism but duty, an act of compassion amid horror. He despised war's cruelty, yet within its suffering, he found a spiritual calling that revealed the best of humanity: courage, sacrifice, and steadfast faith. Captured in 1918, he endured the remainder of the war as a prisoner before returning to St John's, where he later served as Headmaster from 1922 to 1930.
We remember him, and all who served, as we mark that sacred moment when the guns fell silent at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918, ending what many hoped would be the war to end all wars.
In those four years, 65 million soldiers took up arms; over 8.5 million soldiers and 6 million civilians lost their lives.
In 1926, this War Memorial Chapel was consecrated in memory of those who had "gone forth from the College and in the war had made the great sacrifice in defending what they believed to be right." Yet scarcely a generation later, the Second World War engulfed the world once more, lasting six years and claiming over 50 million lives.
One hundred and fifty-eight Old Johannians and staff perished in these two wars; their names are eternally engraved on the panels of the All Souls' Chapel.
Since 1994, Remembrance Day has taken on a deeper meaning for our nation — it is also a time to honour those who gave their lives in the struggle for justice and freedom in South Africa.
As Johannians, Old Johannians and as South Africans, we gather to pay our deepest respect to all who made the ultimate sacrifice for the ideals of justice and peace for which so many sacrificed their lives.
May this Solemn Requiem Mass of Remembrance stir in us the courage to build lives of purpose and compassion, lives that shine with light, life, and love for generations to come.
God bless Africa,
Guard her children,
Guide her leaders,
and give her peace,
for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
— Stuart West, Executive Headmaster
