The legacy of Wudinna's soldier settlers is being chronicled by a former Eyre Peninsula local, highlighting some of the region's most recognisable families - more than 100 years on.
Judith Long, nee Darby, Bendigo, Vic, spent her formative years in the region before moving in her teens, and has always had a strong tie to the area and its history.
Ms Long said her father, Basil Darby, was a keen amateur historian, who had researched John Charles Darke in depth and she was brought up in a household where history was deemed very important.
Although history had always been of interest, it was about 15 years ago when she truly became hooked on Australia's military history, after learning of her own family connections.
Following that pique in interest, Ms Long went on to research and write her first book, The Waddikee Rock Honor Roll, chronicling the stories of 23, World War II soldiers named on the honour roll from the Koongawa area, now located at Wudinna.
Following its publication in 2019, Ms Long was on the hunt for a new project and she decided to research the area's World War I soldiers.
"I knew there were returned soldiers in the Minnipa area and so I started poking around for some more information," she said.
"I asked questions on Facebook pages and I got a few names and when I checked them I saw they were allocated land under the soldier settler scheme."
Ms Long said there were thousands of soldier settlers across the country and 98 allocations of land in Le Hunte County, with allocations from Condada to Cootra.
While there were 98 allocations, Ms Long said this did not mean there were 98 soldier settlers as about 10pc never settled.
While people often think the farms were given to soldier settlers free of charge, she said this was not the case. Instead they were allocated land under an agreement they would start payments 12 months later once they started making an assumed profit.
Although this may have been an ideal set up for chicken farmers or farmers on land that had already been cleared, the blocks released in Le Hunte County were not so easy.
"They had to clear it all before they could think about making money," Ms Long said.
"Often that was with horses and a stump roller - within a year (they) would have been lucky (to clear) 40 acres (16 hectares), let alone make any money.
"The rumor is that a fellow at a Pygery called Tom Smith, who had won the Military Medal, cleared his land by hand with an axe!"
Ms Long said by the end of the 1930s, about 30 soldier settlers were successful on their properties, which was high compared with other areas - possibly due to farming backgrounds and help from family.
She said the years of research, connection and writing about these men was a humbling experience.
"You become part of their lives for a while," she said.
"It's important to remember what happened and where we came from."
Looking to the future, she said she hoped her WWI book would be released in 2025.
Katie Jackson
Journalist at Stock Journal. Born into a journo family in the state's South East, Katie made the move to the big smoke to join the team in early 2022 after seven years spent at various mastheads in the regions.
Journalist at Stock Journal. Born into a journo family in the state's South East, Katie made the move to the big smoke to join the team in early 2022 after seven years spent at various mastheads in the regions.
