THE search is on to find the families of First World War South Australian soldiers identified from a collection of photographs described as ‘one of the most important first world war discoveries ever made’.
"It’s a treasure trove," General Peter Cosgrove said.
"It’s previously unknown, candid images of troops just out of the line. Men with their fear and experiences of battle written on their faces."
Gold Walkley Award winning investigative journalist and author of The Lost Diggers - Ross Coulthart - with the curators at the Australian War Memorial has been working for the past three years to identify the haunting images of unnamed WW1 Australian and Allied soldiers seen on nearly 4000 glass plates photographs.
The photographs were taken by French husband and wife team, Louis and Antoinette Thuillier, in the French town of Vignacourt, and stayed hidden for nearly a century.
Mr Coulthart will be addressing a Rural Media SA Anzac commemoration lunch at the Adelaide Showground this Wednesday (April 22).
To date, the family of Frank Aitchison from Adelaide is the only SA family to have been positively connected with an image from the Thuillier Collection.
The glass plate photographs were unearthed in a metal chest in a dusty attic in a French farmhouse by Ross Coulthart.
The Aitchison family will be attending the RMSA function, including Frank’s 89-year-old WW2 RAN vet son Sam.
The Thuillier Collection was acquired by Kerry Stokes AC.
He has donated the plates featuring Australian soldiers to the Australian War Memorial.
The painstaking investigation has subsequently identified the images of a number of SA soldiers.
The family names identified so far include Bobridge, Miller, Hewitt, Mace, Hodgens, Murray and Stuart.
Their names are known but their living family members remain a mystery.
What has been discovered about Corporal Robert Chaffey Stuart MSM is that he was a labourer from Naracoorte.
He embarked with the 12th Battalion in December 1915.
In January 1919 he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and he returned to Australian in May 1919.
His next of kin was listed as his mother - May Caroline Neilson of Naracoorte.
His father was dead at the time he enlisted.
He was discharged in December 1919.
A letter on the service file records that his mother changed address in June 1919 to Rowett Street in Kapunda.
Are you related to or do you know anything about the Stuart family?
Ross Coulthart would be delighted to hear from you.
To view the 800 glass plate photographs in the Australian War Memorial, visit The Lost Diggers at www.awm.gov.au/collection/photographs/vignacourt/
To register for the Rural Media SA lunch on Wednesday visit www.ruralmediasa.com
