ANZAC centenary project 2015

Ku-ring-gai Historical Society in Sydney (KHS) is commemorating the centenary of ANZAC day in 2015 with an interesting project.

ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps which came together to fight in WWI. On 25 April 1915, British, ANZAC and other allied forces, including the French and Indians, landed on the shores of Gallipoli to open up a new front in the war with Turkey and the Germans. It ended months later in bitter defeat, with a hasty retreat and a terrible loss of life on both sides.

ANZAC Day is one of the most important days for Australians and New Zealanders. It means different things to different people but for me it is a time to remember so many people who have suffered in times of war and who gave their life or made other sacrifices. And not only those in uniform but their families who also suffered and sacrificed with them.

KHS will publish a book in 2015 to commemorate the people of the Ku-ring-gai area (on the North Shore of Sydney) who served in WWI. Their names have been compiled from the many monuments to the “Great War” in the district. Volunteers from KHS (including me) are researching and writing 500-word stories of the soldiers, sailors and nurses who served. However, because there are so many names, the book will be limited to those who did not come back and those who were decorated.

There are many free websites for researching the stories of these people, including:

• National Archives of Australia (NAA) for the official service records of people in the Army, Navy and Air Force, in many conflicts
• Australian War Memorial, for nominal rolls, honours and awards, the Red Cross wounded and missing files and much more
• Trove website (National Library of Australia), including the digitised Australian newspapers (1803-1954)
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission recording and maintaining the graves and memorials of servicemen buried overseas
• and many more

I am enjoying being involved in this project. It is a good way to honour the sacrifice made by these people and their families and to learn more about the past.