Volunteers and students help find WWI diggers lost in unmarked graves
In short:
The family of Australian digger Private Richard Norman Hanna has finally been able to acknowledge his service with a military headstone.
Private Hanna was one of thousands of soldiers buried in unmarked graves across the country after they returned from war.
What's next?
Volunteers and school students are joining hands to find lost diggers, honour them with an official gravestone, and reunite them with living descendent.
At a cemetery settled upon a winter-green hill on the outskirts of Adelaide, 94-year-old Jack Hanna drops a sprig of rosemary on a grave and offers a quick one-hand salute.
At that moment, he was finally able to honour his father at his place of rest.
It closed a lifelong mystery for Mr Hanna and his family about where World War I digger Private Richard Norman Hanna had been buried.
Jack Hanna, with wife Yvonne, is pleased his veteran father's grave is finally recognised. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
Mr Hanna lost his father at age 17.
He knew the grave was at Mount Barker cemetery, but he was never sure of the location of the site.
"I would go out there and think that's where he was, but I couldn't tell," Mr Hanna said.
"The circumstances were different, the people were different, the ideas were different … so we're here to try and do the right thing by my dad, which is something long overdue."
Private Richard Norman Hanna's great-grandchildren unveil his military headstone at Mount Barker. (ABC News)
Private Hanna was one of around 265,000 soldiers who returned home to Australia when the war ended.
He served in Egypt and Palestine in the 9th and 15th Light Horse regiments, the 4th Battalion Camel corps and 5th Signal Troop.
He was also one of 2,500 World War I diggers believed to have ended up in unmarked graves across South Australia when they died.
Private Richard Norman Hanna served in World War I. (Supplied: Virtual War Memorial Australia)
It is estimated there are thousands more forgotten servicemen and women across the nation, but the Office of Australian War Graves director Tim Bayliss says it is difficult to estimate.
"The records back in the early '20s was not great," Mr Bayliss said.
"People when they returned from the war got disenfranchised or disconnected from their family and community, and so we don't really know how many are out there, but we're almost certain there's a lot."
The Headstone Project SA president, John Brownlie, said the large number of unmarked graves was a sign of the times, given many diggers died during the Great Depression.
"A grieving family had to consider whether they would put food on the table, pay the rent or put a marker on a loved one's grave,"he said.
Mr Brownlie is among a small group of volunteers who have taken on the responsibility to find the lost diggers and honour their service with an official gravestone and dedication.
Headstone Project SA's Ian Hopley and John Brownlie track down WWI veterans in unmarked graves. (ABC News: Emma Masters)
It is extensive unpaid work that involves countless cemetery visits and detailed archival research, alongside organising and running official commemorations.
"It's a way of giving these men the recognition that they so long have not had," Mr Brownlie said.
For fellow volunteer Ian Hopley, the work gives him the chance to put his 32 years as a police detective to good use.
"Making sure we've got the right person in the grave, their military history, their family history, and then we start to look for the living descendants," he said.
"At the moment, we've got a list of about 50 that we could do pending funding, and we've got a list of about 420 possibles around the state."
Students help find unmarked graves
The plight of the lost soldiers has led to Adelaide students from St Mary's College giving a helping hand.
As part of their year 9 history class, a group of about 80 students have been looking for unmarked sites and getting a hands-on history lesson along the way.
The students met with volunteers and were given names, a map of the cemetery and the general area where the grave was believed to be located.
St Mary's College students Leila Rammal and Ariana Kostopoulos look for the unmarked grave of a WWI nurse. (ABC News: Emma Masters)
Leila Rammal and Ariana Kostopoulos teamed up with fellow students to look for two sisters who served as nurses.
"We're researching a nurse that was involved in World War I, her name is Edith Cocks, and yeah this is her gravesite," Ariana said.
"So we're just looking at the damage that has been made and how we can hopefully repair and restore it.
"And hopefully we will find a family contact and get some more information."
Last year, St Mary's College students also helped run formal proceedings in the dedication and unveiling of a headstone.
Private Richard Hanna served in the 4th Battalion Camel Corps during World War I. (Supplied: Virtual War Memorial Australia)
Official proceedings are partly funded through a federal program that began last year.
Community groups apply to the federal government for formal recognition of the grave and can receive up to $620 to cover the cost of headstones and plaques.
The Headstone Project SA said the funding was welcome, but they still struggle to meet additional costs and overheads.
In SA, they recently lost state funding and were knocked back on national status for tax deductions on donations.
Despite the hurdles, the group has vowed to continue as long as possible.
"We're doing it for the families, and to see the families there and see them reunited with a long-lost forebear," Mr Brownlie said.
Three generations of the Hanna family at Private Richard Hanna's dedication. (ABC News: Emma Masters)
For the Hannas, it is meaningful work that has made a difference to their family and a soldier who served.
"It's a wonderful thing that that is happening, that all these soldiers are being recognised and yes, they earned it, they really did," Jack's wife Yvonne explains.
"But to us as a family, it's been a great thing. It really has and it's meant a lot."