A small team is restoring veterans’ graves on the NSW South Coast. Photo: Ian Noormets-Booth.
In one part of Narooma Cemetery rests war veteran Charles Duncan Davis.
The Brisbane-born man served in the Australian Imperial Force Medical Corps and was discharged in 1919, according to research by fellow veteran Ian Noormets-Booth.
He was ultimately interred at the South Coast cemetery in the late 1960s after leasing land on the NSW South Coast for a decade.
The Narooma RSL sub-Branch has put out a call to find any living relatives, as part of a program to restore veterans’ graves that need some extra care or minor maintenance.
Mr Noormets-Booth is spearheading the program, which launched in 2021.
The Narooma RSL member and former Department of Veterans Affairs welfare officer was inspired to start the initiative after attending a funeral several years ago.
“It was at the stage when COVID was at its highest, and it was terrible … I wandered around and I started to see [more] graves with military symbols on them that were poorly looked after or were aging,” he told Region.
“I thought, ‘Well, if this is happening now, has it happened before?'”
The Office of Australian War Graves maintains some graves and memorials for veterans, though Mr Noormets-Booth said its initiative focused on other service members’ graves.
“I have no issues with them [the Office] at all. It’s the other ones that die later on … Their graves, over time, fall into disrepair after their relatives either die or move out somewhere,” he said.
“That’s the issue we’ve got.”
Before any restoration work can start, Mr Noormets-Booth contacts council to get permission for the works.
He also researches the veteran’s story with his team, using online resources, social media, historical records and ChatGPT searches to develop a record of them.
“Once I’ve made a list of what they’ve done and a bit of a biography, I go to the council to get in touch with them [their relatives].
“It’s a long process, and they may come back and say to us, ‘No, we don’t have any contacts’, or it’s an old contact. … I try to locate them and then after that, we can go ahead and do something.
“It’s a micro team – it’s not a massive team – but it works.”
Mr Noormets-Booth said other people had helped with elbow grease (such as by gardening and cleaning up graves or lifting headstones to realign them) or with genealogical research, while any donations would also be put towards their efforts.
“When the weather gets good, I’m going to be sitting out in front of Aldi in Narooma. There’s a list of pictures and articles about the people that we’re looking for.
“I’m sticking with six World War One graves to start with. It’s a big job.”
He said it was important a community honoured the stories from their area, including those that might be overlooked.
“I’m also a veteran … I know exactly what it’s all about – that’s the motivation I’ve got.
“I want to do something in the community … and highlight the people that have been there before and who have sacrificed themselves.”
Anyone with information on Mr Davis can contact the Narooma RSL by calling (02) 4476 2135.
