Anne Watts preserves stories of Dunedoo's ANZACs in new book 'Lest We Forget: The Servicemen & Women of Dunedoo'

Now, they're ready to speak up and their stories have been preserved in the new, updated edition of 'Lest We Forget: The Servicemen & Women of Dunedoo', launched last Friday in a "well attended" event at the Dunedoo Library.

"[The Vietnam war] was such a controversial war it wasn't even recognised so it was very difficult for a lot of them," Ms Watts said.

"But it's important for the younger generation to know about the disruption and dislocation of people's lives caused by these wars and the contribution these servicemen and women made is very important, no matter how big or small.

"I would never, ever want to glorify war - I hope younger people can learn that we don't want it to ever happen again but also can appreciate what they have done for our country and community and how lucky we are to live in a peaceful country."

The book tells the story of people from Dunedoo and surrounds who have served in armed conflict from the Boer War to the present day.

Researching for the first edition, released in 2000, Ms Watts started by looking into the names on the Dunedoo cenotaph. From there she dug into information from the National Archives and interviewed veterans and their families.

"I interviewed the last of the returned servicemen for the first book. To get those stories as a primary source from those who served was marvellous, and they've all gone now so it was very special," she said.

"In the service records in the National Archives there's a huge amount on World War I - up to 77 pages on one returned serviceman - but not everyone is there from World War II, some of them are total blanks."

Ms Watts was inspired to write the book after a conversation with a family friend over dinner about his own experience serving in World War II.

"My parents-in-law had great friends and the husband of these friends was in the air force. My parents-in-law died terribly young but we remained friends with their friends," she said.

"One evening we were having dinner together and I just threw in a couple of questions not knowing whether I was doing the right thing or not. He was a very quiet, gentle and modest man and the story he told me was just unbelievable.

"I went home that night and I said to my husband we've got to get this down on paper because nobody knows what these people have done."

While working on the first book Ms Watts was still working full time, but she says in her retirement she has had a lot more time to devote to the updated edition.

One major update to the book is the inclusion of information on participants of the 1915 Coo-ee March and the 1916 Kookaburra March.

The Coo-ee March saw around 20 men who decided to enlist to serve in the war march to Sydney from Gilgrandra. Along the way, they gathered other recruits with the group numbering about 300 by the time they reached Sydney.

The following year a group of 25 volunteers calling themselves the Kookaburras left the Mountain View Hotel in Tooraweenah destined for Bathurst, passing through Dunedoo, Gulgong, Mudgee and many other small settlements along the way. By the time the Kookaburras reached Bathurst the group included 100 volunteers.

The book also includes stories of some of the prisoners of war who were sent to Dundeoo to help farmers as well as stories about Dunedoo servicemen and women who found themselves interned abroad.

"I have a story from a prisoner of war who actually gave birth in a prison camp in Singapore. And I also have a story from her daughter - they are quite similar but the story from the prisoner and the one from the daughter are a good comparison, as to how that all affected her life growing up," she said.

The publication of the new edition of Ms Watts' book was made possible through $6,500 in funding from the Saluting Their Service (STS) Commemorative Grants Program, which the Dunedoo Historical Society and Museum were successful in applying for in 2021.

"The hard work of Anne Watts and the Dunedoo Historical Society and Museum have translated hours of research and compiling of photographs into a bound copy which is now accessible to readers," Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton, who attended the book launch, said.

"They should be proud of their achievements, and the book launch today is a great example of what can be done through the Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants Program."

Copies of the updated edition of 'Lest We Forget: The Servicemen & Women of Dunedoo' are available for purchase at Dunedoo stock and station needs store Milling Stuart and the Dunedoo Museum.

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