Remembrance Day in Bega will come with an added twist this year, as soil from the town's war memorial joins samples from right across NSW in a new commissioned art installation.
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The Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park Sydney is in the midst of gathering soil samples from every town across the country where enlistees for World War I called home, to be displayed in a "Hall of Service".
Bega RSL sub-branch president Gary Berman said soil samples from across the Bega Valley Shire are being collected and sent to the Anzac Memorial.
Once there, they will be processed, placed in a specially designed glass canister and labelled with the town name to be included among an estimated 1700 others.
The Hall of Service is expected to be open to the public by Remembrance Day 2018 – 100 years since the signing of the Armistice that brought WWI to an end.
Memorial visitors will be able to view interesting information on each listed location via digital devices.
Information will include the details and date the local soil was collected, the names of every enlistee who gave that location as their home address, and pinpointed maps showing the local area and its surrounding memorials and schools.
Mr Berman said all samples are expected to be the memorial by mid-December, but the Bega sub-branch thought this Saturday’s Remembrance Day service would be an ideal time to break out the shovel.
Other Bega Valley locations where soil is to be collected for the Anzac Memorial project include Bemboka, Candelo, Cobargo, Eden, Kameruka, Merimbula, Pambula, Quaama, South Wolumla, Tathra and Wolumla.
The soil will be collected from each of the town’s memorials or cenotaphs, with GPS coordinates recorded as well.
Muster for Bega's service is at 10.45am at the War Memorial Gates on Carp St.
Bemboka will also gather from 10.45am at the memorial on Loftus St, while Tathra’s service will begin at 10.20am at the cenotaph. Bermagui’s service will gather for the 11am service at the headland memorial.