Crowds converge on Hay War Memorial High School as the historic precinct turns 100 years old

The town of Hay has just wrapped up four long days of celebrations to mark the centenary of Hay War Memorial High School.

Principal Yvan Chambers said the school opened on Anzac Day in 1923 and is the only high school in the Commonwealth of Nations to also serve as a war memorial.

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Mr Chambers said of the roughly 2000 people of Hay during WWI, over 600 volunteered and went to war.

"It was a sizeable proportion of the community, not just from Hay but also the surrounding district," he said.

"The idea was because so many people went, [those left] felt they had to do something in return to acknowledge the work done and to honour their memory. The people decided they needed to have a living war memorial to educate people and through education."

The school featured in the Anzac Day commemorations on Tuesday, with students leading the service shortly after 11am.

President of the ex-students' association Pat Cox said the celebrations were a great success with former students turning up from as far away as America.

Roughly 150 ex-students who attended the school from the 1940s right through to the 21^st century converged on the school across the past several days for the major milestone.

The original school hall now houses a museum to help tell the stories of locals who have served in the armed forces.

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