CORPORAL DONALD BENNETT LANE.
Corporal Donald Bennett Lane, who was killed in action during the fighting at Gabe Tepe on April 25th, was the elder son of Mr. W. Lane, editor of the New Zealand Herald. He entered the School in 1909 as a member of Form IV.B., and rapidly became prominent in every form of sport. In 1910 he was a member of the First Fifteen, won the School Steeplechase, and was prominent at the athletic sports. In the same year he won the Swimming Championship of the School, and was a member of the swimming team which won the Championship of the Auckland Schools. He left us to become a student of the Lincoln Agricultural College, where he was placed second in order of merit among the students of his year. He left with the main body of the Expeditionary Force as a corporal in the 16th Waikato Company, which was almost annihilated in the Gallipoli landing, and while in Egypt was promoted to the rank of senior corporal. Private Hanson, who has just returned wounded, tells how Corporal Lane, although twice hit, first in the arm and then in the thigh, persisted in leading his section until he fell dead from a bullet which struck him in the forehead. Private Hanson adds a tribute to Corporal Lane’s fortitude and bravery in action.

Frank and generous-hearted, Corporal Lane possessed a character whose most conspicuous traits were a cheery optimism and a strong sense of duty. He belonged to a type of which the School is justly proud—that type of boy who, ever regardless of self, works unconsciously, both by deed and example, for the greater glory of his School and Country. [Auckland Grammar School Chronicle, Volume 3, Number 1, pp 13-14]