The South Australian Headstone Project will continue to bring to light South Australia’s rich wartime heritage through its work in commemorating the final resting place of WWI veterans, thanks to a significant State Government funding boost.
Veterans SA will provide $60,000 over three years to the project, which seeks to recognise soldiers in unmarked graves in cemeteries across South Australia and restore their memory through formal headstones bearing their names and service details to honour their sacrifice to the nation.
A small team of volunteers are leading the project, which has already received more than $114,000 from Veterans SA over the past seven years.
The volunteers have dedicated countless hours to conducting extensive research, record matching, identifying and locating soldiers’ descendants, erecting new headstones and conducting dedication services, ensuring South Australia’s wartime legacy continues.
Since the project began in 2017, the graves of 108 local veterans have been dedicated with official headstones. A further six graves will be memorialised by the end of this year.
The Headstone Project SA President John Brownlie estimates more than 2,500 veterans are buried in unmarked graves across 900 cemeteries in South Australia.
He said the funding will help the team recognise and formally dedicate a further 15 graves of WWI veterans across the state, and continue their research into uncovering more veterans, including nurses who served in WWI.
The headstone dedication of Private Patrick Aloysius Byrne at West Terrace Cemetery was held on 19 October 2024. Learn more
“The Headstone Project South Australia is delighted to receive funding, through Veterans SA, to continue its vital work in commemorating the final resting place of our WWI veterans and honouring their service to Australia through formal headstones and dedication ceremonies,” he said.
“Through our work in identifying the descendants of these war veterans, we are able to bring together family members, who are often unaware they had an ancestor unremembered in an unmarked grave.
“It gives us immense satisfaction to unite families from across the country, and in some cases overseas, at dedication services in South Australia, bringing these families closure and the veterans the recognition they deserve.”
To help with the mammoth task and instil the value of honouring and recognising the past sacrifices of the state’s war heroes in the next generation, the team has joined forces with Adelaide’s St Mary’s College.
History students from the College are helping undertake research, locate graves and help organise dedication services, connecting South Australia’s younger generation to the state’s rich military history.
