A Henty resident has used time spent in lockdown to finish off a history book about soldiers who fought in the first World War.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Yvonne Booth is a self-professed Henty history buff and has written two other books on the town's heritage.
Ms Booth said she began researching the stories of 160 Henty WWI soldiers after a request from the historic society.
"The anniversary for the end of the war was coming up and they asked for volunteers to write a book about it," she said.
"Their names were taken from the town honour roll which was given in 1915.
"However, there were a lot of soldiers who enlisted after that day, so we decided to include them as well."
She said she compiled information from a variety of sources, including Ancestry.com.
"I read all the newspapers we had in Henty," she said.
"I consulted family history books and families as well, though there's not many family connections left at this stage so far after the war."
Ms Booth said that she had also been given four diaries and many letters home written by the soldiers, and she had compiled separate A to Z files on each of the men.
IN OTHER NEWS:
But she said it wasn't until COVID-19 forced her to spend lots more time at home that she actually put her mind to finishing the book.
"It took me years," she said.
"With COVID-19 on I worked solidly from March to October
"I think I was at it every day, from early in the day to late at night.
"It was compulsive reading once you got into it."
Ms Booth said there were lessons to be learned from the book.
"It was just amazing the amount of information that we came across that was new," she said.
"The worst thing was how the Generals and the hierarchy were making decisions around a table, but they had no idea what they were talking about.
"People that had nothing to do with it, who weren't on the battlefield, were making decisions back in England."
She said after the war, some soldiers suicided, "because of the shell shock".
"There would have been a lot, but we didn't know about them," she said.
"Thousands upon thousands of soldiers went into battle not knowing what was ahead of them."
Ms Booth has ordered 300 copies of the book, which will be launched at an event on May 23 by the Governor of NSW Margaret Beazley at the Civic Centre, South Street, Henty.
She said the book also included maps, a poem about Gallipoli and a piece of writing to set the scene of 1914.
The money from the sale of the books will go towards establishing a new Henty museum.