In 1916, eight Werribee CFA volunteer firefighters went off to fight for their country in World War I.
Two of those men never returned.
Now, more than 100 years later, Werribee CFA is honouring the men’s sacrifice by adding plaques to the brigade memorial wall.
Werribee CFA historian John Ryan first came across the story when he was researching the branch’s history in the lead-up to its 100th anniversary.
“I’ve been with the brigade for 49 years, and these pictures have been on the wall all that time,” Mr Ryan said.
“I thought, ‘who are these blokes?’ So I started to delve into the history.
“We’ve got a memorial wall which we started a few years ago, and we thought they deserved to be on the wall.”
The CFA has already unveiled a plaque for one of the members, Lance Corporal Vice Ralph Turner, who was killed in action in Marseille on March 9, 1917. It now plans to do the same for Driver Peter Gardner, who was killed in action in France on November 9, 1917.
Mr Ryan is keen to find Mr Gardner’s family so the CFA can invite them to the plaque unveiling, which will take place on Remembrance Day.
Anyone with information on Peter Gardner’s descendents can contact the Werribee CFA Facebook page.
