A class of high school students has helped uncover the legacy of two South Australian war heroes, who have now been recognised for their remarkable bravery more than a century after their service.
A St Mary’s College class discovered the damaged and undecipherable graves of the two World War I nurses, sisters Agnes and Edith Cocks, and then worked to save their story of sacrifice from the erosion of time.
Their discovery was made during a World War I research project.
“It was really upsetting to see because there was all cracked glass and remnants of broken-up decay pieces,” year 9 student Jayla Nicholas said.
The students collaborated with the Headstone Project to restore the sisters’ legacy.
“We feel really privileged to be able to remember what all the soldiers and nurses did,” Jayla said.
Agnes Cocks was one of only eight nurses who departed Australia for the Boer War in South Africa in 1900, and established a medical clinic there before serving in France during World War I.
Her sister, Edith, served as a nurse in Egypt and England from 1915 to 1919 before returning to South Australia, where she worked at the Repatriation Hospital at Keswick until 1933.
“In those early times, I think it’s a testament to just how difficult it must have been, but a testament to their commitment,” Diane Cocks, a descendant of the sisters, said.
In South Australia alone, there are more than 2500 servicemen and women in unmarked graves.
The Headstone Project has uncovered the stories of 110 so far.
This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.
