Most thorough record of Shire World War I soldiers ever attempted

Remembering Diggers

STAFF WRITERS

Email
Last updated:
World War I records, including some historical photos, have been painstakingly collected for a comprehensive new website. Picture: Douglas Shire Historical Society

There were 220 men who went to World War I with strong connections to Douglas Shire, a new study has revealed.

These included remarkable Diggers such as Jack Crees, who signed the Kitchener of Khartoum Pledge on May 31, 1915, to abstain from drinking while the war raged - a movement named in honour of former Boer War and World War I officer Field Marshal Horatio Kitchener. 

“In order that I may be of greatest service to my country, and carry out the wishes of the Commander-in-Chief at this time of national peril, I promise until the end of the war to abstain from all intoxicating liquor,” the pledge went.  

As a driver in the 17th Australian Army Service Corps serving in France, Jack Crees’s abstinence was probably best for all concerned, but nevertheless, he showed admirable constraint during wartime. 

The former train driver even kept a log book of every place he visited during the three-and-a-half years he served. 

This, and a host of other World War I stories, have been documented on a new Douglas Shire Historical Society website detailing the fresh research, which has been completed in time for Anzac Day next month.

The site has been a decade in the making - volunteers first began compiling the information in 2015 for a project to coincide with the 100-year commemoration of the end of The Great War in 1918.

This included Australian War Museum research and interviews with some of the descendants of the more than 200 people related to the region who served.

But some records were lost during an AWM restructure, so the historical society set to work building its own online.

During the project, the Douglas Shire Council honour board was even found to be missing some names, and others were found to have spelling mistakes, so those were able to be corrected on the site.

Web designer Jayne Miller helped out with the website design, which can be found at douglasdiggersww1.org.au.

The DSHS is also creating a display to be launched this month in the Douglas Shire Council foyer in Mossman to coincide with the website completion.

For more information contact [email protected].

 

Support public interest journalism

Help us to continue covering local stories that matter. Please consider supporting below.

Got a news tip?

Send a news tip or submit a letter to the Newsport Editor here.

Comments

Comments are the opinions of readers and do not represent the views of Newsport, its staff or affiliates. Reader comments are moderated before publication to promote valuable, civil, and healthy community debate. Visit our comment guidelines if your comment has not been approved for publication.