Honouring the 200th addition to war collection

THE Geelong Honours Them project has announced the 200th addition to a collection preserving the legacy of World War I servicemen and women from the region.

Commencing in 2018 and led by the Geelong Heritage Centre, the project aims to locate World War I honour boards throughout the Borough of Queenscliffe, City of Greater Geelong, Golden Plains Shire and Surf Coast Shire regions.

With the combined efforts of the community and dedicated team, the Geelong Honours Them website now features 200 honour boards containing more than13,000 names.

The 200th addition to the growing collection is a 1930s photograph and description of the Melbourne Electric Supply Co (Geelong Branch) Roll of Honour.

While the whereabouts of the original honour board is currently unknown, the unearthing of the photograph was the result of detective work undertaken by the Geelong Honours Them Project team.

The board is one of more than 60 that has been recorded through documentation but remains physically lost.

Geelong Regional Libraires chair, Cr Ron Nelson, applauded the efforts of the team and community members who have been involved in the project over the last three years.

“Preserving this historical information and making it accessible online helps us celebrate and commemorate the people these honour boards represent, and keep their legacy alive,” he said.

“I encourage the community to continue to support this important local history project and to explore the Geelong Honours Them website, check if your local boards have been listed.

“This is a really useful tool for people undertaking family history research.”

Geelong Heritage Centre manager and project leader, Mark Beasley, said the “mysteries are getting deeper now, but also more intriguing”.

“The ‘easy finds’ have been discovered; what we’re working on now is locating boards that haven’t been seen, in some cases, for decades,” he said.

“We need help from our communities to solve these historical puzzles.”

To nominate a World War I honour board or to find out more head to the Geelong Honours Them website.