Have you seen the Lilydale RSL’s War Diary Website?
This website is the sub-branch’s contribution to the centenary of the end of the First World War.
A unique project that highlight’s the service of this district’s men and women during World War One.
Never before has a district, like the former Shire of Lillydale, had its Great War volunteers chronicled in the way you will see on this website.
Here you will find a day by day account of what happened to them all and the important events that affected them. It details the moments they enlisted, when they sailed, the brave deeds they performed to receive awards, when they were wounded or hospitalised and tragically, when and how they died while on active service.
Furthermore, it also chronicles their thoughts and words, so that by using their diaries, letters and postcards, and in some cases autobiographies, they themselves describe events in historical order.
We know that the individual stories here have been of immense value to family historians, military researchers and those interested in local events.
We also believe that the strength of this project lies in the fact that by presenting this information, in this particular way, it will allow the researcher to uncover further gems of information previously unknown.
The project answer’s many questions about who was the first and last, what was the district’s most fatal day, what month contains our highest volunteer rate, how many were at the landing at Anzac Cove etc.
Many of these men and women detailed in this project came home to form our sub-branch in 1919.
It is a fine tribute to all of those from this district who served, suffered and died for our nation in what was meant to be the ‘war to end all wars’.