THERE was nothing ostentatious about Private Peter MacKinnon's speech to the people of Urana during a farewell for him and two other local boys who had enlisted in the 1st Australian Imperial Force for service in World War I.
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According to a report in the Urana Independent newspaper on November 24, 1916, Pte MacKinnon said simply he was going away "to do his little bit".
That humble statement has been used by Peter MacKinnon's granddaughter, Michele Hemmings (nee Sims), for the title of a book.
Called To Do My Little Bit, the book records and honours the life and military service not only of Mrs Hemmings's grandfather, but also the ultimate sacrifice of his brother Alexander, who was a fellow member of the 1st Battalion and who died on April 13, 1918, from head wounds suffered when a German plane dropped a bomb on his troop truck in France.
Mrs Hemmings, of Wagga, yesterday donated a copy of her book to the Museum of the Riverina, which has a WWI exhibition at its Willans Hill site.
Mrs Hemmings wanted to donate the book in time for the 88th birthday of her mother Marjorie Sims, who was Peter MacKinnon's eldest daughter.
Peter MacKinnon was promoted to Lance Corporal during the war and after his return to Australia in 1920 married Blanche Peters and took up a soldier's settlement farm at Hillston before moving to Wagga in the late 1930s.
He died in 1975.
"He died when I was 12, but he lived with us for most of my childhood," Mrs Hemmings said.
Mrs Hemmings said a keen interest in World War I and a deep love for her grandfather motivated her to write the book.
"He was a hero to me, I idolised him and I also knew of the suffering he would have gone through during the war, and of those of my mother after her mother died when she was nine," Mrs Hemmings said.
"And because I have children I wanted them to appreciate the sacrifices and the dedication of Australian soldiers and others of the Commonwealth and know they are free as a result of it."
Mrs Hemmings book was accepted by museum curator, Michelle Maddison, who has put together the museum's current WWI exhibition, He Belonged to Wagga.
"I think it is wonderful," Ms Maddison said of the donation.
"I think she has done such a beautiful job in telling the story of her grandfather and his brother.
"Hopefully, it will inspire other people to go out and research their own stories."
