Soldiers from Sutherland Shire who answered the call to fight in the Great War will be honoured in a special way at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park.
Minister for Veterans Affairs David Elliott took soil samples at Kareela Public School alongside pupils who are members of the school’s Environmental Team.
Soil samples from more than 1600 locations across NSW where young soldiers enlisted to fight are being collected as part of the Anzac Memorial Centenary Soil Collection project.
The samples, with the name of the town or district, will be placed in the renovated Hall of Service.
Kareela Public School principal Nicole Arnold said the ceremony reinforced students’ learning of Australian History and particularly the history of the Anzacs.
“We were very proud to be a project part of this,” she said.
“In April, Kareela Public School students will again attend the Dawn Service at Miranda.”
Mr Elliott said collecting the soil from the broad range of sites across the state was a reminder of the great sacrifices made by men and women across all of our communities in the Great War.
“A century on, we honour these Australians by taking a sample of soil and placing it in the Hall of Service at the refurbished Anzac Memorial so that it can be appreciated and commemorated by generations to come,” he said.
“Sutherland Shire gave a huge number of people to the war effort and this important contribution is recognised in the collection of soil from Kareela.”
The upgrade of the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, which was undertaken for the centenary of Anzac, is due to be completed in late 2018.
