In order to recreate Honour Boards we needed to have names. The Hansonville Board was easy as we had newspaper accounts that very helpfully published a list of names (that’s a researchers dream). However, I knew that these twenty-seven names were not even close to the number who went.

It wasn’t just about finding names – the bigger question was how were we going to determine whose name went on the Board? The rules are pretty loose and each district traditionally set up their own guidelines. There are no hard and fast rules and some men might be on more than one Board. Why were some put on and others left off? Sometimes it just didn’t make sense – especially if we look at it with all the resources and knowledge we have available to us today. At the time that the original Boards were made, the district and families may not have known what we can now find out from official records and sites. What was consistent though, is this. For someone to be named they must have:

• been born or attended school in the area;
OR
• have a strong family connection to the district either at the time or through their family;
AND
• strongly identify as belonging to that district;
AND
• they needed to have been called up for duty after enlistment.

So began the hours upon hours of research, I believe that I did nothing else most nights and weekends for two years. I needed to find not only the names and the stories of the men, but their families. The local newspapers are a wonderful research tool and I spent hours trawling through the Wangaratta and Benalla papers, as well as many others – chasing, chasing, chasing. The National Archives and the Australian War Memorial provided official service records and war diaries.

I wanted to give the men a voice so that they did not just remain a faceless name on a piece of wood. I needed to know what they were doing before and after they went to war. I also wanted to let as many family members know what we were doing and give them the opportunity to be as involved as they could be.

The easy part was finding the men who still had a strong local connection to the district. Many still had family living locally – but many did not. Some names were unknown to anyone I spoke to, and it was a bit of a mystery as to why they were on the original Board. But there is something that every historian or researcher agrees on – give us a challenge and we’ll give it a go. I discovered that whilst you can’t really make your eyes bleed, they can be red rimmed, gritty and feel like they ARE bleeding from the hours spent pouring over books, papers, microfiche and film and of course the internet.

After almost two years of work a final roll call of fifty-six names has been settled on. I have learnt that:

• The first to enlist directly from the district was Bert Lloyd in September 1914 – although he didn’t cover himself in glory for all his desire to be part of the adventure;

• The first to enlist with a connection to the district, however was John Nolan. He joined up on the 18 August 1914, in New South Wales, two weeks before Bert Lloyd;

• Some of the local men were working in New Zealand and enlisted and fought with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF);

• By August 1915, forty-three men from the Greta District had signed up for ‘the great adventure’;

• The men who enlisted saw action in Egypt, Gallipoli, Palestine, The Somme, and the Western Front and fought in all the major battles and campaigns across the conflict;

• Many would distinguish themselves in battle – there was a Military Cross, two Military Medals, and numerous ‘mentioned in dispatches’;

• There were numerous brothers, brothers in law, cousins, nephews and uncles. There was one father and son;

• There were twelve sets of brothers;

• Two families – the O’Brien’s and the Delaney’s sent three brothers each;

• Fifteen men paid the supreme sacrifice;

• Of those fifty-six names there is still one man who remains a mystery. He is named on the Hansonville list –and I have him attending school there – but his war record remains elusive to me;

• I have a family contact for almost all of the families, some are proving to be just a bit hard to find.

I have spent hours talking with family descendants and members, I have been humbled by their support and generosity. I have been reduced to tears when holding precious mementoes and photos – especially from those who did not return. In some cases I really did cry after reading reports and letters.

I have read letters home that in one sentence talk about being in the trenches, and then in the next ask if the lambs in the top paddock have been drenched. One local soldier writes of his two horses and how he hopes he can bring them home; he talks of his favourite, the mare, who has been shot three times and survived the gas attacks. We know today, that he never got to bring them home, as none of the others did either.

A soldier writes of spending Christmas on Lemnos Island and describes the farming practices. Almost as an aside he mentions that he had a ‘bit of an injury’ to his leg. We now know that he would have been injured and evacuated just before the end of the Gallipoli Campaign. That soldier was Trooper Jack McMonigle.

Tom McCarthy was a local man who wrote home almost weekly, each letter full of news and hope that ‘it would be all over soon’. He made light of the big campaigns and remained positive throughout – it was hard to read through his letters knowing that he would die from wounds a few weeks before the Armistice. His mother would receive a picture of his grave and the ‘dead man’s penny, only to put them and be shown to us almost a hundred years later.

But without a doubt the hardest thing to read were the letters from mothers and sweethearts – one young lady starts out quite angry that she has not heard from her friend ‘Tom’; she accuses the army of not sending him her mail. As time goes by her letters turn to polite queries as she learns that he is missing, presumed dead, then back to arguing that ‘this can’t be true’, and later pleading for his property, just something to remember him by’. Her ‘Tom’ was Tom Bryan, born at Greta and killed in action at Gallipoli on June 24, just 6 weeks after leaving Australia. His brother Edward would die from Malaria in Egypt in 1918. His mother is said to have ‘died from a broken heart’ a few months later.

Robert Whitehead was killed along with his brother Walter, and two others from Greta, John Cromwell Hurley, and Charles Winnell, on the same day, 3 May 1917, at the second battle of Bullecourt. Robert was engaged at the time and the family of his fiancé still have the diamond engagement ring he gave her. None of the four were ever found.

My greatest admiration, though, goes to the men who did return, they picked up their lives in whatever way they could and ‘got on with it’. We can only imagine what they had seen and experienced – most would never talk about it, or if they did it was not in any great detail.

The most rewarding part of this has been talking to families about the project and their relative– in some cases they didn’t know of their connection to Greta. Connecting families with others and watching them find long forgotten links has been wonderful, yet humbling, – for me it, it goes to the heart of what this project is all about. Every family has embraced the project and have been extraordinarily generous and patient with their time, their memories, and their willingness to share photos and memorabilia. They embraced me and I feel a debt to them and their ANZAC.

Those men that had no family have become mine – they will never be forgotten either. They have now become part of the Greta-Hansonville family again. Getting to know these men and their families has had what I know will be a lasting effect on me. I am not a war historian or military expert – far from it. I do however have a greater understanding and knowledge of the individual battles and campaigns than I did before. What was once just an interest has now become part of my life and I feel that I know all of those men intimately – and that they trust me to tell their story. It has cemented my belief that there are no ‘winners’ in war. It made me more determined to both see this project through, and to honour not only the men, but their families and the district who supported them.

In June next year, 2016, I will travel to the Western Front. I need to see and walk where the men once stood.. I need to place a poppy and flag on the graves of those who never came home and say ‘you’ve not been forgotten’.
These men must not remain names on a piece of wood – we must never forget them. We must keep their memory alive.

This is the speech given at the unveiling of the Greta Hansonville Honour Board by Noeleen Lloyd.