New book charts school’s servicepeople

THE past century wartime personnel listed on Mount Blowhard Primary School’s two honour boards have had their histories collected as part of a new book that launched last week.

Released on Remembrance Day as part of a school ceremony, the collection called We Shall Honour Them was penned by historian, writer and former secretary of the Learmonth Historical Society, Lois Spenceley.

Undertaking the project after being urged to by members of the school community, Spenceley said it was an ecstatic moment for her to introduce the work to the public.

“It was absolutely wonderful because it was such a heavy book to research,” she said.

“I had some people visit from England for it and I was in touch with a man from Singapore who had a line with one of the families. I searched far and wide.

“Mount Blowhard has two honour boards. One is the school’s covering the First and Second World War, and the Vietnam War. It’s men of the district or the school who went to war.

“The other board is from the Bald Hills Primary School, which went to Mount Blowhard after it closed down.”

Featuring between 100 and 120 photos across about 75 pages, We Shall Honour Them charts the lives and histories of nearly 80 servicepeople.

The book was created with input from the school community and Carissah Cane-Sultana assisted with research.

“We’d use things like the AIF project, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Second World War nominal rolls, national archives,” she said.

“I had a man who sent a single photo of his mother in uniform, and a shire certificate. This lady’s brother was David Baird who was heavily involved with the Arch of Victory and was a prisoner of war in Burma.”

Spenceley has been involved in historical societies for more than 20 years, yet refers to herself as more of a genealogist than a historian.

“I started this in March, 1983 when I said to my aunt I’m going to record my family history and it took up from there,” she said.

“I love to put family histories together for other people. It’s been a passion since then.”

The book is Spenceley’s sixth, having previously created works on topics like Addington Primary School’s 150th anniversary since joining the Learmonth Historical Society in 2012.

A copy of the book can be bought for $20 by contacting Mount Blowhard Primary School at 5334 6354.