Walter James Valentine Voss

Jim as he preferred to be known, travelled from Queensland from the age of 11 to Tudor House before boarding in Macarthur House. A Lance Corporal in the Cadet Corps Jim formed lifelong friends at school with whom he continued to correspond for over 70 years.

Travelling to England after finishing School, Jim enlisted in the Royal Artillery and while fighting on the Western Front lost the sight of both his eyes as a result of a shell blast. Finding himself with a disability that would force most of us to retreat, Jim attended St Dunstan’s Hospital for the Blind where as part of his rehabilitation he was taught to type with the assistance of a braille typewriter. Jim travelled widely including visits to Australia visiting family and his alma mater. For many years he spent 6 months annually in Brussels where he worked developing aids for others with sight impairments. He published a book entitled “The Light of the Mind” where he wrote about the heightening of his other senses, skills that came to his aid when at the age of 78 he suffered as the result of a home invasion.

During WWII he and his then wife moved out of London when their flat was reduced to rubble during an air raid, but escaping to rural England was no safer, their home suffering smashed windows through several air raids. Being one not to sit by idly in a time of turmoil, Jim, fluent in French worked with the BBC broadcasting to Belgium during the war.

Jim passed away in 1980, aged 92. He regularly corresponded with the Editor of the School Magazine and in 1968 received a medallion commemorating 50 years of service working with the blind. Jim could have wallowed in self-pity following that fateful shell burst, instead he used his misfortune to help others, overcoming obstacles and demonstrating compassion and resilience.