Volunteers researched for more than a year to restore the century-old Timboon Honour Roll destroyed in a hall fire in 1963.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
About 70 people gathered to see the replacement, unveiled this month. Among them were family members of a number of soldiers listed.
Heytesbury District Historical Society member Peter Younis, who with Nancy McCadie and Marg Magill spent endless hours researching records to produce a final list, noted the board was erected in 1917 - prior to the end of the war.
"As the First World War dragged into 1917, communities around Australia began to consider how they might remember the people who left their homes to serve in what was becoming a long and increasingly deadly conflict," he said.
"I suspect that no one knew exactly when the war would end and there was an increasing community need to honour those who had left, many never to return.
"They were sons, husbands brothers, uncles, fellow workers, footballers, cricketers, millworkers, lime diggers, farmers, teachers, butchers, contractors, gardeners and farriers.
"Imagine, if you can, the effect on a community of removing that number of mostly but not all young people from our community today and sending them off to fight.
"... At the original ceremony James D Deany MLA, the very active member for Warrnambool, was asked to unveil the board and the shire president Cr. R L Howlett spoke of the need to remember the men whose names appeared.
"Mr Deany also made the point that it was not enough to simply record the names. He reminded everyone that we owed a duty to the men when they returned and that they must be adequately provided for."
The restoration project was made possible with a donation from the Vecta Group and Cooper Energy, while the timberwork was completed by local craftsman Robert Marr and the artwork by Ian Currell.
