George Brown Fullerton was one of many who never returned home from the carnage in Europe.
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On Sunday at 5pm descendants of the city’s original Anzacs will help place the final crosses in Bendigo’s Field of Remembrance.
The ceremony will mark the day the guns fell silent on World War One’s western front.
Kath Read’s uncle George fought on that front with the 38th Battalion.
“He got a medal for distinguished conduct after he and another soldier attacked a party of 20 Germans in a large drain,” she said.
“They killed eight and took the rest prisoners.”
That was in a period between 7 and 9 June 1917. By 12 June George was dead.
Over 4000 Bendigonians enlisted in World War One and more than 400 were killed, according to Field of Remembrance co-ordinator Chris Earl.
The Field of Remembrance was laid out on Thursday morning in preparation for new crosses to be added on Sunday.
“Each cross in the Field of Remembrances represents every soldier, every family of those who returned after the war and those who did not,” Mr Earl said.
“The field itself shows that Bendigo as a community continues to honour and respect, never forgetting the service and sacrifice of those a century ago.”
The Field Of Remembrance started with the marking of the Centenary of ANZAC commemorations in 2015.
It will remain in place for a week after 11 November, allowing the people to wander and reflect on the service of an earlier generation that shaped the future of Australia and Bendigo, Mr Earl said.
It is one of a number of events and activities that will mark Remembrance Day.
From Friday the Soldiers Memorial Institute will be lit up with the same projection used to honour the Anzacs during White Night last September.
Remembrance Day will be marked by a march from the town hall to the Soldiers Memorial Institute at 9.45am, to be followed by a commemorative service. A service at the Eaglehawk Memorial in Brassey Square will take place from 10.45am.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
