The bravery of residents who served in World War I has been remembered in a new book launched at Yarra Plenty Regional Library.
Fine Spirit and Pluck is a collection of stories written by Whittlesea, Banyule and Nillumbik residents about the people from their communities who were involved in the war.
The collection was co-ordinated by the library’s family history librarian Liz Pidgeon and launched at the library’s Eltham branch last Saturday, as part of the library’s family history month celebrations.
Ms Pidgeon said the book marks the centenary of World War I while also celebrating family history.
“It is amazing how many people don’t know they have family who served in World War I,” she said.
“I hope it encourages people to ask questions of their own family. It is all about connecting people with their family history.”
Ms Pidgeon began the book a couple of years ago, after hearing of grants for community projects acknowledging the centenary of WWI.
She thought the book would be a good way to acknowledge contributions from the northern suburbs to the war, and began contacting history groups and researching names on local war memorials.
People were then invited to submit stories of family members who’d served.
Ms Pidgeon said the book had lots of different voices, but was by no means a comprehensive account of the contribution of local Anzacs.
She hopes the book will give people insights into life 100 years ago.
“A lot of people from Whittlesea who enlisted were orchardists or farms hands,” she said.
Copies are available from the library and as a free download from www.yprl.vic.gov.au.
