According to Mary McPherson in her 1991 account referred to earlier:

The Report of the Minister for Public Instruction for 1939 notes that “the menace of previous years has turned to a stern reality, and in common with other members of the British Commonwealth of Nations, Australia is involved in war.”

In September 1941 The Education Gazette reported the first two teacher servicemen to lose their lives. They were:

• Edwin McEwen, aged 25, who came from Tullera near Lismore and who, at the time he enlisted in the AIF, was teaching at Brays Creek. McEwen was killed in action in Greece on 22nd April 1941.
• Colin McIntyre, aged 24, who came from Rob Roy near Inverell and who, at the time he enlisted in the AIF, was teaching at Walcha Road school. McIntyre died of wounds on 21st January 1941.

Another randomly selected name from among the many on [the] rolls of honour for the Second World War is Keith Pettiford, aged 27, from South Sydney, who had gained his BA degree in 1939 and who was teaching at Wollongong when he enlisted in 1941. Pettiford was accidentally killed on 20th November 1942.

A valuable spin-off of teachers participation in World War II was the setting up of classes run by teachers for fellow service personnel who were illiterate. Mick Clifford was another serviceman who lost his life. Mick was a member of the Australian Wallaby Union side that went to England in 1939 but did not play a game.

Mick completed his teacher training at Sydney Teachers College in 1940. He trained with the RAAF and was killed testing spitfires off Newcastle NSW.

Over 1,500 teachers and officers of the Department of Education enlisted for active service in World War II.²³

After 1945 ex-service teachers from World War II joined teachers from World War I for the annual Anzac Day service in the Department of Education. The initial part of each service was a walking visit to the memorials honouring teachers who had served in World War I, with the main plaque being in the Bridge Street entrance vestibule.

Towards memorialising soldier-teachers of World War II, and further honouring their World War I colleagues: the Soldier-Teachers Memorial Committee (World War II).