Toowoomba RSL sub-branch recognise servicemen ahead of Remembrance Day 2021
Dozens of former servicemen from the Darling Downs have laid in unmarked graves since their passing – but years of work from the Toowoomba RSL sub-branch has changed that.
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Around the world hundreds of veterans from our world wars lie in unmarked graves, their service unknown and unrecognised.
63 of them lie in Toowoomba.
RSL sub-branch committee member Lindsay Morrison is just one man in a large team who has fought over a number of years to have the servicemen of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs recognised for their service in the first World War.
Inspired by his grandfather Herbert Hill, who served in the 37th battalion in France in the first World War, Mr Morrison and a team of sub branch members began a passionate campaign in 2016 to mark the graves of the region’s servicemen.
Funding became available to engage in the process of marking the graves of these servicemen in 2018, so the sub-branch set to work.
“There’s about 1400 names on the honour roll at the sub branch,” Mr Morrison said.
“Of the 1400 there’s 210 that were killed in action and buried overseas, and 275 that came home.
“They’re buried here at the cemetery.
“We got the family histories, so they checked the graves and found there were 63 unmarked graves.
“We identified the 63 and we applied for the money from the Department of Veteran Affairs and set about organising it.”
Years of research and campaigning culminated on Sunday morning where at an intimate ceremony at the Toowoomba and Drayton Cemetery, 58 veterans were recognised with markers acknowledging their service.
An additional five World War One veterans were also honoured, whose graves were ineligible to receive markers under local government guidelines.
“It’s tremendous,” Mr Morrison said.
“We worked hard.”
RSL sub-branch president Scott May said the “welfare” implications of the marking of the graves were enormous.
“It’s incredibly important,” he said.
“The Toowoomba region has an incredible military history spanning more than 100 years and I think it’s got welfare implications on so many levels.
“One is that we’ve given these people in their final resting place a marker so people know where they are, but it’s also allowed our volunteers to contribute to the community as well.
“It’s given living veterans something to do and something to focus their time and energy on that is a worthy community project.”
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