Honouring Mount Barker heroes

"This tribute is a reminder that behind every name carved in stone is a life worth knowing."

When teacher Clare Dorey got her students to research a veteran each for Year 10 History, it gave her an idea.

"When I left that school, I decided to do some research of my own," she said.

As part of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, Clare applied for and received a grant through Veterans SA and that is how her book, Stories from Stone: Honouring Mount Barker's WWII Memorial Men was born.

"There were 17 men that I researched," said Clare. "Although I did cheat and put a woman in as well. I came across her when she had lost her brother and fiance in the war."

Clare said she made sure she mentioned, not only the men who died, but those who came back and continued on with their lives, as well as the women who had to deal with them.

To Clare, these weren't just names on a memorial but real people, with real stories and she wanted to make them 'live again'.

"I have my favourites," Clare said. "There is Bruce Paech and John Hunt. Hunt is my absolute favourite.

"They both have really interesting stories. Both are characters that go AWOL. Bruce is such a scallywag.

"Hunt went night flying and crashed during training and later crashed behind enemy lines and survived 10 days in the desert."

Clare said it took over a year to write the book and she was actually sad when it was finished.

"I was enjoying the research process so much, I didn't want to stop and write it," she said. "I wanted to tell the entire story (but) I had to cut out so much stuff."

Within its 40,000 words and 96 pages, the reader will enjoy learning about the local history of Mount Barker via its veterans and their lives.

"I was going into a lot of local history and learnt about the pioneering families," said Clare.

"And I got to visit one of the graves in Cambridge, of one of the pilots who crashed over England."

If you would like to buy or read a copy of the book, it is available from Mount Barker RSL and Mount Barker Library.