A passionate Wagga historian is determined to paint a picture of how the brutality of World War I echoed across the city one-hundred years ago.
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It was the year 71 small-country-town men lost their lives amid the carnage of the “war to end all wars”.
Exactly half of these men, who enlisted in Wagga, died in one battle.
It was the bloodiest year of the war, with 77,000 Australian causalities and 22,000 dead.
It is a year that Anne Flood wants Riverina residents to remember.
“We tell local men’s stories to keep their memories alive and to honour them,” Dr Flood said.
“I tell their stories so they will not be forgotten.”
Dr Flood said the Riverina felt the tragedy of 1917 as much as any other region, with 71 of 200 soldiers paying the ultimate sacrifice that year.
With the aid of Michelle Maddison, Dr Flood has uncovered the stories of a number of these men.
Their names are enshrined on the Cenotaph, located at the Victory Memorial Gardens and these are their stories: