The St Arnaud and District WWI War Diary Project
The aim of the St Arnaud and District WWI War Diary project is to present a real time picture of the war as it affected St Arnaud and district soldiers, sailors and nurses who served in World War I and at the same time to show what the local community was doing to assist the war effort at home.
The book will be in the form of a diary of the period of the First World War.
To date, we have:
- Compiled a large database all names of soldiers, sailors, airmen or nurses who served in World War I:
- who were born in St Arnaud and district,
- who enlisted at St Arnaud and district centres,
- who worked in St Arnaud prior to the war or
- who had family in the district,; and
- whose name appears on one of the war memorials and honour boards in the district.
- Researched the service details from Government websites of all the above soldiers, including enlistment, embarkation, war service and date of death or return to Australia.
- Written in diary format all newspaper articles that were published in the local Newspaper showing how the war impacted the local community and those who stayed at home. This included men, women and children who all contributed in a variety of ways to the war effort.
- Included in the diary all letters that were sent by soldiers and nurses and published in the Mercury newspaper on the dates they were written.
- Included in the diary on the date of death of the soldiers all information relevant to the soldier from the above database.
- Threaded through the diary I am currently adding the battles and other events that resulted in the death or wounding of local soldiers.
For more information about this project, please contact:
Dr Yvonne Postlethwaite – St Arnaud and District Historical Society Inc. on 03 54953228