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Researching WW1 diggers and nurses

from Sunshine Coast region of Queensland


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2014 was the centenary year of Australia's first deployment of soldiers to Europe to fight in the First World War.

The purpose of the Adopt a Digger Project is to commemorate the centenary by honouring the men and women from the (current) Sunshine Coast region of South-east Queensland who fought in World War One either with the Army, Navy or Airforce. Criteria for a soldier's inclusion is either that he was born in the district, or his next-of-kin was resident in the district, or he enlisted in the district or he is commemorated on a local honour board or memorial. This same criteria applies to our nurses. Since the inception of the project we have decided to include the settlers who took up land at Beerburrum Soldier Settlement from 1916 as the Settlement is such a significant piece of the region's WW1 history. Our criteria dates are 1914 to 1925.

The aim of this website is to create a database which records each soldier's WW1 military history and a brief personal history. This database will be a valuable source of reference for historians, researchers, descendants and school students, and will be a significant contribution to the social and historical military records of Australia, and particularly the  Sunshine Coast region.

We held an exhibition in April 2015 to commemorate the Anzac Centenary and to remember and honour "our boys".

After much deliberation, we have decided not to include diggers from areas outside the Sunshine Coast on our Diggers Database.

Initially, we received many requests to include them but these requests have now dwindled and it is proving complicated and not worthwhile to have some, and not all, diggers from other areas.

We are sorry if you are disappointed with this decision, and if you wish to have a PDF of your digger's page, we will be happy to provide it. Diggers from regions other than the Sunshine Coast will be removed from the database on 30 September 2011.

 

Our digger numbers from Sunshine Coast have grown as we are find more diggers who should be included. Adoptions are growing steadily but we need lots more researchers to adopt our diggers and participate in this valuable community project. Remember, this is a wonderful way for us to commemorate "our boys" as we move towards the Anzac Centenary.