A cup of soil is being collected from 1700 sites in NSW, and from the list of locations there are 31 in Upper Lachlan.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Richard and Robyn Diamond, owners of the old Kialla School House, were thrilled to be asked to be included in the soil collection.
Fiona Hall, acclaimed artist, proposed that a plaque be created for every town, suburb and locality around NSW that enlistees for the First World War gave as their place of address.
A sample of soil collected from the area will be displayed alongside the place name.
Close to 1700 plaques will be displayed on mass around the walls of the Hall of Service.
A draft list of NSW place names for the artwork was created by extracting the address information from the Australian Defence Force Academy’s AIF* Project database of First World War enlistees. Its data has been developed, refined and tested over a 30 year period.
The draft list of addresses was initially reviewed by Dr Peter Orlovich, a 50 year member of the Geographical Names Board, and then checked by staff of the Geographical Names Board, representatives of the Veterans community and the NSW Office for Veterans Affairs (OVA). At the conclusion of the review process close to 1,700 NSW locations were confirmed.
The locations have been mapped and OVA, the Geographical Names Board and Spatial Services surveyors are making plans to collect soil samples either from a town or suburb’s First World War memorial, or a suitable alternative such as the local school or a reserve if the locale does not have a memorial.
When Fiona Hall’s artwork is complete and on display, Memorial visitors will be able to view interesting information on each listed location via digital devices. Information will include the details and date the local soil was collected, the names of every enlistee who gave that location as their home address, and pinpointed maps showing the local area and its surrounding memorials and schools.
The Collection Program was launched in Bathurst on 27 March 2017. Collections have so far focused on the Far West region of the state. The fantastic support of local communities in the first phase of the Program has been the key element in its success.
Soil collections were incorporated into Anzac Day Services in Hill End, a former gold-mining town an hour’s drive from Bathurst, and Picton, south-west of Sydney in the Wollondilly Shire.
