Many of our supporters know the importance of our project to mark the graves of WWI veterans located in Lutwyche Cemetery in Brisbane and have previously asked us how they can help. Now you have an opportunity to support our voluntary efforts and give these WWI veterans the dignity of remembrance and respect.
We thank you sincerely in advance for your support!
Lest We Forget
Please click on this link for further details:
The installation of 709 plaques on the gravesites of unmarked WWI veterans in Lutwyche Cemetery is forging ahead with another 40 plaques recently installed, taking the total number installed to date to 80. The concrete beams in the ‘Anzac’ portions are slowly but surely filling up.
We received $319050 in Commonwealth Government funding via the ‘Unmarked WWI Graves Program’ ($450 per plaque). We will require a further $50000 to complete the project because $450 does not cover the cost of manufacturing and installation of the 709 plaques. We are volunteers and not an incorporated association, so we will investigate a variety of ways to raise the $50000 to complete the project. This includes a ‘Go Fund Me’ initiative, and we also welcome potential corporate sponsors to get in touch with us:
Due to the plaque manufacturing and installation timeframe, it will be approximately 18 months until all plaques are installed. Here is a link to a list of the 709 WWI veterans who were included in our application:
http://australianremembrancearmy.com/ww1-unmarked-graves...
All veterans were individually researched so that each plaque reflects the correct service information. We were very grateful to receive the advice of Major Chris Moon (Retired) during this time consuming process.
Undertaking this research is a long process. Firstly all burials in a cemetery need to be researched (if burial records exist), and then the unmarked war veterans graves need identifying via a ‘walk-through’ of the cemetery. The ‘Lutwyche Cemetery Unmarked WWI graves project’ took over seven months of voluntary full time research to complete. All Australian cemeteries need to be researched to locate our war veterans in unmarked war graves, and not just WWI veterans. It can be done, but takes time.
The other challenge is the number of war veterans with civilian headstones that make no mention of their war service. Not all Australian war veterans qualified for official commemoration from the government, and many of these headstones and graves are deteriorating at a rapid rate.
We thank the Department of Veterans Affairs and Brisbane City Council cemetery management for their support, and we will keep you updated with our progress.
Lest We Forget
Admins ~ Katrina Trevethan & Cate Walker
