It was all about names and faces at Pakenham Remembrance Day ceremony on Sunday.
To mark the Centenary of Armistice, a book was launched written by local historian Patrick Ferry outlining the stories of all those remembered on Pakenham district war memorials and honour boards.
Each of those 145 names was read out by descendants.
And later in the ceremony a new plaque was unveiled recognising the service of 50 service personnel from various confilcts not previously recognised on the memorial. Again, their names were read out by relatives of some of that group.
Patrick Ferry filled the keynote speaking role and afterwards his book was launched by Star News Group editor Garry Howe.
Mr Ferry spoke of the joy felt in the then small community of Pakenham at news of the armistice 100 years ago to the day – but also the sadness at the realization that of the 145 who served, 25 per cent would not return.
He said that for the past two years he had been researching who the Pakenham Diggers were.
“The idea for the project came from the realisation that with the passage of time, the Diggers are inevitably passing from living memory into history. And as an historian, I am conscious that even though their names are carved into stone, they will potentially become obscured by a little bit of dust, even forgotten altogether.”
Mr Ferry said the key focus of the project was to try to locate photographs of the Diggers – literally, to put a face to the names on memorials.
For full details of the Pakenham Remembrance Day service, pick up a copy of this week’s Pakenham-Berwick Gazette.
