From there on, the Old Boys’ Association took up the task of identifying and locating schoolmates in the armed forces who had died defending the country. Over the course of eight months, they found three more.
Apart from Captain JA Dalby, the association identified Major Sylvester Rajesh Ratnam, a 1988 alumnus who died during Operation Parakram in Kupwara in 2002, Major Atul Deviah, who died at the Siachen Glacier in 1987 and Major Uday Shankar Ghosh, who died in Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka in 1989.
The association, set up in 1918, is holding an event on May 25 to honour them. Their names are to be engraved on the memorial that has stood on the school’s campus since 1958 in memory of 28 Old Boys who died in World War I and II.
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“I am a proud mother of a martyr and I am so happy his memory is being honoured. He was my only son and he died defending his country, having given up a wellpaying job to join the armed forces,” Hemala Ratnam, mother of Major Ratnam, said.
Representatives from the regiments the four soldiers served, along with families of the martyrs, retired and serving army generals, air marshals, brigadiers and navy commodores, will attend the event, Ollapally said.
Apart from their names being set in stone, the association will also put up plaques honouring soldiers in the corridors of the school and gift the families and regiments silver plaques. “It was by chance that we saw the plaque in Arunachal Pradesh, which ultimately led to this event. We will be accompanying Cheryl Dalby, daughter of Captain JA Dalby, to Arunachal Pradesh to have a new plaque installed and for her to pay homage and obtain closure. She was only four when her father was killed,” Ollapally said.
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