What began as a chat during an annual catch-up with war mates soon turned into an important mission for Bill Park, who will receive his Master of Philosophy from UQ in July.
At 89 years old, Mr Park isn’t your typical university student, and has just completed his latest UQ qualification 62 years after receiving his Bachelor of Commerce from The University of Queensland in 1947.
For his MPhil, Mr Park investigated how many names of WWII servicemen and women are missing from the Australian Government’s Internet-based Nominal Roll and The University of Queensland’s Honour Roll, and how this memorialisation compared to that performed annually by newspapers.
"It all started when I caught up with a few university mates who also served in WWII, and we were talking about how our war training was never meant to disrupt our university studies." Mr Park said.
"My mates had a different experience when it came to the army releasing us, so we wondered if it was the same for other university students at the time.
"I was going to check the university rolls, but you can’t readily find out who were students of 1941, and there was no Government muster roll available.
"When I checked the Nominal Roll website, I found some of the people we had served with weren’t listed, and wondered what had happened to the other university students enlisted if these people weren't on it.
"That prompted me to do a check for the general public, and I found out there was quite a problem with the roll.”"
After discovering the service of over 15,000 Queensland servicemen and women is missing from the Nominal Roll, Mr Park is pushing for corrections to be made, and for similar research to be done across the country.
"These errors are probably repeated across other states," he said.
When Mr Park began researching the rolls in 2004, he never thought it would lead to him enrolling in a Graduate Certificate in History, which would then eventuate as an MPhil with the School of Journalism and Communication.
"I started doing a Graduate Certificate with the History people, but in my research I talked to Mrs Grace Cokley, the widow of a digger I knew, and she sent me to her son Dr John Cokley in the School of Journalism and Communication, who became one of my advisors," he said.
"Doing a Masters is something I never thought I would or could do, but now I’m very glad I have done it. The university has treated me very kindly."
As soon as he officially graduates in July, Mr Park’s next move is to publish the book he has written about those original 90 soldiers who started his quest for a correct memorial for servicemen and women. He also plans to present his findings to the Federal Government as evidence for the need to correct the Nominal Roll.
"Those university students played a big part in developing Queensland after the war. It’s part of a plan to honour what we say we will do, lest we forget. That’s what we promise every year, but how can we remember them when we can’t find them?" he said.
"The records should be correct and right. The MPhil has given credibility to my research, and hopefully the Government will take notice and correct the roll."
Mr Park, of Sherwood, said the study for his latest qualification was very different from his accounting and commerce qualifications in the 1940s.
“I always wanted to be an engineer, but I didn’t get a scholarship — there were only 20 handed out in Queensland in those days, so I got a job and studied accounting as an evening student," he said.
"The University was in the city, and our biggest lectures had 40 people, which is a bit different from the lectures with 400 people in them these days.
"Then there were about 1800 students, of whom 400 were girls. Only about 400 of the men were day students, the rest were evening students or studied externally. There were more students there during the evening than there were during the day.
"And of course there were no computers. And we didn't have a university life like there is today."
His time at UQ prepared him well for his illustrious career as a stockbroker, and in positions including chairman of the Brisbane Stock Exchange, president of the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce and a national vice president of the Institute of Directors. He later was awarded a CBE for services to business, and an AM for service to the community, finance and education.
"Now I’m glad I wasn’t an engineer, I’m happy with the way things turned out," he said.
Media: Bill Park (07 3379 7321), or Amanda Sproule from UQ Communications (07 3365 2339).
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