A World War I (WWI) veteran who lay in an unmarked grave at Fawkner Memorial Park for 57 years has had his services to Australia commemorated and his final resting place suitably marked.
The dedication of WWI veteran Private Owen John Hillan’s headstone on Monday 6 March 2023 was organised by the Headstone Project, a registered charity based in Tasmania and South Australia (SA) that is dedicated to ensuring the resting places of WWI veterans are memorialised with a headstone and plaque.
The ceremony, which was attended by representatives of the Headstone Project, Fawkner and Preston Returned Services Leagues and the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria, marked the first time the charity has arranged the funding and dedication of a headstone for a veteran resting in Victoria.
Private Hillan was born in Lancashire, England in 1891 and moved to Tasmania in 1914. He enlisted with the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) in February 1915 and fought with the 12th and 52nd Infantry Battalions and later the 4th Machine Gun Battalion, serving at both Gallipoli and on the Western Front.
After the war he returned to Tasmania. He died in 1966.
The circumstances that led to Private Hillan lying in an unmarked grave at Fawkner Memorial Park remain unknown.
However, the Headstone Project estimates more than 20,000 WWI servicemen and women are lying in unmarked graves across Australia for a variety of reasons, including poverty.
Private Hillan’s unmarked grave was first brought to the attention of the Headstone Project’s South Australia (SA) branch by his great-niece Elizabeth Coburn, of Connecticut, USA.
Headstone Project (SA) President John Brownlie says the organisation was proud to help restore the identity of one of many returned veterans and ensure he is not forgotten.
“It is also about providing his family with a place for personal reflection,” he says.
Mr Brownlie says Headstone Project volunteers hope to establish a Victorian branch in the near future, as they are certain there are large numbers of forgotten servicemen and women who lie in cemeteries across Victoria.
“They served, they deserve to be remembered.”
Further information
Visit the Headstone Project website here.
Pictured from left to right: Major General (Rtd) Michael O’Brien of the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria and John Brownlie, President, Headstone Project (South Australia).