Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a former instructor at the Royal Military College, I recall graduation parades as very special and a time of justifiable pride for the cadets, their families, colleagues and instructors. But today's graduation at Duntroon is noteworthy, because it marks 100 years since the first class graduated. The Royal Military College opened in June 1911 and was one of our first truly national institutions.

When war broke out in August 1914, the first class had not completed their training, but their course was accelerated and they graduated early to enable their deployment to Turkey. The 35 young men from Duntroon's first class would become the platoon commanders of the new Australian Army—the Australian Imperial Force. By the end of the war in 1918, eight of the 35 would be dead. The survivors were the most successful class in the college's history, with more than half reaching the rank of brigadier or higher. Their efforts in the Dardanelles caused British General Hamilton to remark:

… each Duntroon-educated officer was literally worth his weight in gold.

During the Great War, some 42 Duntroon graduates were killed in action or died of wounds and another 58 were wounded—that is two-thirds of all who went away to fight.

Today is a proud day for a proud institution. We send our very best wishes to the young men and women who graduate today. They inherit and uphold the very best traditions of service to Australia.