Oakey man on mission to find family of forgotten World War I brothers
The faces of five boys, taken before they departed for World War I, is a poignant reminder of the young lives lost on the battlefields of France and Gallipoli. Now one man is on a mission to reunite the photo with the boys’ family.
Toowoomba
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From a faded sepia-toned photo, five young brothers stare out. They are dressed in soldiers’ uniforms but look more like boys who should be playing in their backyard, rather than men departing for the Great War.
Very little is known about the boys, other than their last name – Whyatt – but one Oakey man is on a mission to change that.
Neville Cherry found the photo in an old shed on the western side of Oakey about two years ago and wants to track down the boys’ family.
“I pulled the photo out of an old box and thought, that is tragic,” he said.
“That you serve your country and end up, discarded
“I have asked around and nobody knows who the boys are.”
Mr Cherry put the photo on display beside Oakey cenotaph during the town Anzac Day service, in the hope that it would jog someone’s memory.
“The message that I wanted to give to these folks here today is that Oakey never forgets an Anzac.
Oakey holds its commitment to Anzac Day close to its collective heart.
It is an army town and the whole community turns out each year to remember the sacrifice made after each generation.
The names of more than 220 men and women who served in the World War I and World War II are read aloud, a poignant reminder of the out-sized role the small darling downs town played in the flick.
More than 130 men signed up for World War I, at a time when the town had a population of just over a 1000.
“We’ve been a military for over 140 years, it is in our DNA,” Mr Cherry said.
“We have lots of veterans that come to the town, actually settle out here, we’ve heard the stories growing up.
“We have a wonderful history down at the Anzac RSL, our museum has wonderful artefacts and we have the Flying Museum out at the army base.
“But you go to our cemetery and it’s a living history.
“And when you consider our primary school started in 1874, we’re 151 years old.
“Many of those Anzacs, the 131 names listed on this Cenotaph, actually attended the state school.
“The Anzacs will always have a home in Oakey.”
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