Soil samples have been taken from 13 sites in Sutherland Shire for a project designed to be a lasting reminder of the sacrifices made by communities across NSW during the Great War.
Veterans Affairs Minister David Elliott visited Woolooware High School on Friday to join in a soil collection ceremony after taking part in a similar event at Kareela Public School in February.
Samples were also collected from Monro Park, Cronulla, Lilli Pilli Point Reserve, Caringbah War Memorial, Seymour Shaw Park, Yowie Bay Public School, Sylvania Public School, Sutherland War Memorial, Como Public School, Royal National Park War Memorial, Heathcote Anglican Church and McKell Avenue, Waterfall.
The soil will honour the memory of soldiers who considered Sutherland Shire home when they enlisted in the Great War.
Samples from more than 1600 sites across NSW where young soldiers enlisted to fight are being collected as part of the Centenary Soil Collection project for the Anzac Memorial at Hyde Park.
They will be placed in the renovated Hall of Service with the name of the town or suburb next to them.
Cronulla MP and Attorney-General Mark Speakman, members of the Fuller family, representatives of Miranda and Cronulla RSL Sub Branches, and the school community joined in the ceremony at Woolooware High School.
The school marked the occasion with the planting of a Tuckeroo tree.
Members of the Fuller family, Gary and Steven, assisted with the surveying of the project sites and soil collection.
Gary’s grandson Henry Fuller, who is school captain, was among students who assisted.
The memorial is due to open in October this year.
More information: anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/anzac-memorial-centenary-project/soil-collectionprogram
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