10th Anniversary

JAMES DUNSBY (SVC 1994-97)

21.10.1981 – 30.07.2013 

This month marks the 10th Anniversary of the tragic passing of an outstanding Old Virgilian. The story is included so as to add it to our growing list of ‘stories’ related through OVAtions since its inception in March 2017 (68 editions).

James was born in England but migrated to Tasmania when he was seven and grew up in Hobart, attending St Virgil’s College (1994-97).  James showed leadership at an early age and was elected College Captain in his last year at Austins Ferry. He represented the College in Soccer and Rowing.  James was a member of the 1997 Eight which had an outstanding season in winning: Hobart Regatta Handicap Eights, the Southern Head of the River and the Tasmanian All Schools Eights – the crew lost the Island Head of the River by the narrowest of margins.

He went on to study political science and history at the University of Tasmania. The dual national later joined the Australian Army, and as a noted military analyst, moved to the UK where he guest lectured at both Oxford and Cambridge universities.

He was a brilliant scholar with a formidable intellect who boasted three degrees, including a master’s degree in international relations. A fellow at Oxford by 31, he was also a super-fit athlete and an irrepressible character known for his wit and story-telling skills. Nicknamed ‘Mick’, after Mick ‘Crocodile’ Dundee, he had served in both the Australian and British armies.  In 2008, Cpl Dunsby was part of a three-man crew of an armoured vehicle with Prince Harry on their first Afghanistan deployment and the pair reportedly became close.

On the back of that experience, James worked as an Afghanistan analyst for the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD). 

On 30th July,  2013, three soldiers – Lance Corporal Craig Roberts, 24, a teaching assistant who joined the British Territorial Army as a reservist; Lance Corporal Edward Maher, 30, a full-time soldier on his second attempt to join the SAS; and reservist, 31-year old Corporal James Dunsby, all died trying to complete the gruelling ‘Point to Point’ - a punishing 26 km hike on south Wales’ highest mountain, Pen Y Fan in the barren Brecon Beacons. 

Held on one of the hottest days of the year, at the peak of summer, this endurance march for selection to the specialist SAS military unit was an arduous, demanding challenge of navigational, physical and mental skills over relentlessly tough terrain of steep ascents and descents. It was not for the faint-hearted, and even the fittest soldiers respected the intensity of its challenge. 

The three men were among 78 soldiers on the test march. Despite temperatures of 27 degrees, they had to complete the march around Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in the Brecon Beacons, within eight hours and 48 minutes, carrying 49lb of kit. 

There is a considerable amount of information re. the deaths of the three soldiers and the subsequent inquiry accessible on the internet

James is survived by his wife Bryher, whom he married in 2012.