THE past century wartime personnel listed on Mount Blowhard Primary School\u2019s two honour boards have had their histories collected as part of a new book that launched last week.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was absolutely wonderful because it was such a heavy book to research,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cMount Blowhard has two honour boards. One is the school\u2019s covering the First and Second World War, and the Vietnam War. It\u2019s men of the district or the school who went to war.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other board is from the Bald Hills Primary School, which went to Mount Blowhard after it closed down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Featuring between 100 and 120 photos across about 75 pages, We Shall Honour Them charts the lives and histories of nearly 80 servicepeople.<\/p>\n
The book was created with input from the school community and Carissah Cane-Sultana assisted with research.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d use things like the AIF project, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Second World War nominal rolls, national archives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a man who sent a single photo of his mother in uniform, and a shire certificate. This lady\u2019s brother was David Baird who was heavily involved with the Arch of Victory and was a prisoner of war in Burma.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spenceley has been involved in historical societies for more than 20 years, yet refers to herself as more of a genealogist than a historian.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started this in March, 1983 when I said to my aunt I\u2019m going to record my family history and it took up from there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to put family histories together for other people. It\u2019s been a passion since then.\u201d<\/p>\n
The book is Spenceley\u2019s sixth, having previously created works on topics like Addington Primary School\u2019s 150th anniversary since joining the Learmonth Historical Society in 2012.<\/p>\n
A copy of the book can be bought for $20 by contacting Mount Blowhard Primary School at 5334 6354.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE past century wartime personnel listed on Mount Blowhard Primary School\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n