By Mikayla van Loon
The long overdue recognition of Montrose’s forgotten First World War servicemen will finally be corrected with new plaques being added to the War Memorial.
When researching the history of World War I during the centenary year, historian Anthony McAleer and Mount Evelyn RSL member Max Lamb discovered a number of names that had been left off the memorial.
“That included a number of fellows who died while on active service as well and their names weren’t on there,” Mr McAleer said.
While not entirely sure why the names were never included, Mr McAleer said he doubts it was intentional but rather a lack of knowledge.
“It was easy in a place like Montrose, which was spread out with small farming blocks, that some of those people got missed because people weren’t made aware.
“Sometimes they would also go to the local paper and see who had been mentioned and if they hadn’t been mentioned in the local paper, they may not have got a look in.
“So I don’t think it’s something where they purposely left them off. I think it’s one of those things where the time, the lack of communication or lack of information available, played a large part in those names being left off.”
It was also common practice for members of a community to name people on the memorials who didn’t necessarily live in the town but might have spent summer holidays on a family member’s farm or worked in the area.
Not only did names not make it to the memorial, Mr McAleer said very little detail, aside from a first name initial and last name, was used.
“It certainly bleeds into this other issue we’ve got at the moment with a lot of the memorials that were put up 100 years ago is they tended to put surnames and initials but very little other detail,” he said.
“The reason being is 100 years ago, when they created them everybody knew who those people were on those memorials, they didn’t have to do any explaining. So 100 years later, we’d like to know a little bit more detail.”
Aiming to correct the wrongs from over 100 years ago, Mr Lamb encouraged the Mount Evelyn RSL to apply for funding to adjust the plaques on the cenotaph.
“We got funding from the Department of Premier and Cabinet, State government funding, to get the plaques made,” Mr McAleer said.
“We’ve put them onto the base of the memorial, and they’ll be there as a permanent record for anyone to see and for generations to see.”
Two plaques have been added to the War Memorial; one naming the men who died while in active service from Montrose including the extra details like their age, rank, unit and where they are buried; the second plaques names the men who served and returned home.
“The age of these fellows tells a particular story about the tragedy in World War One and the impact that it would have had on a small community like Montrose.”
Unveiling the new plaques with a ceremony led by Malay and Vietnam veteran Doug Hill on Saturday 10 September, Mr McAleer said it will be a privilege to have such a decorated Montrose local to do the honours.
“Next month, Doug turns 90-years-old, he is extraordinary. He’s probably the most decorated Montrose veteran that has lived in the town. He’s got about 13 or 14 medals.
“Doug has done his fair share, and we thought it would be an absolute honour to have him as the person to unveil those plaques.”
The plaques will be unveiled at 2pm at the Montrose War Memorial located on the corner of Leith and Mt Dandenong Tourist Roads.
