Saturday, January 23, 2010

Remember them: a guide to Victoria's wartime heritage

Most suburbs and towns in Victoria have a war memorial - memorials to those who served their country during times of war and especially to those who died. Garrie Hutchinson provides a guide, with photographs, to a selection of war memorials in the state and in most cases tells the story of the war service of one or two names on the memorial. Not all war memorials are covered. The Box Hill War Memorial and the Boer and China War Memorial are the two memorials mentioned from Box Hill. The experiences in World War I of Driver Clarence Norman Draeger are described along with mentions of Able Seaman William Henry Pope and George Walters who served in China and Lance Corporal George Rowland Button who served during the Boer War. The war service of Corporal Henry Edwin Sloan is told in the section on the Doncaster War Memorial. Brothers William Gibson and Edward Kehoe have their stories told in the section on the Ferntree Gully Primary School Memorial. The selected stories provided at each location collectively portray the extent of military service and sacrifice provided Victorians over many generations.

The first chapter of the book is devoted to the Shrine of Remembrance and the many memorials within and surrounding the Shrine. The other chapters cover specific geographical areas. The introduction includes a section about the main, primarily, online resources for researching individual servicemen and there is another list of sources at the back of the book.

War Memorials in Australia provides a comprehesive listing of Australian war memorials plus photographs and inscriptions.

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