November 11, 2022
A war memorial in Belgium – with a strong connection to Nanango – has been opened in tribute to families who lost “Brothers In Arms” during the slaughter of World War I.
The “Brothers In Arms” memorial park was officially opened on September 25, with representatives from fundraising teams from both Australia and Belgium in attendance.
The centrepiece is a bronze statue depicting the Hunter brothers, Jack and Jim from Nanango, designed by Victorian sculptor Louis Lauman.
Jim is tenderly holding Jack’s slumped body after the terrible battles fought near Polygon Wood.
The statue was crafted in Melbourne and shipped to Belgium to take pride of place in the memorial park.
Jack Hunter was one of five soldiers whose bodies were unearthed unexpectedly during a road construction project 16 years ago.
He was wrapped tightly in a groundsheet, just as Jim had carefully buried him in a temporary grave after Jack succumbed to shrapnel wounds.
Jack was mortally wounded when he followed orders to go “over the top” to retrieve a piece of tin reflecting sunlight into the eyes of the troops further down the trench.
The chaos and confusion of war meant Jack’s grave was lost in the aftermath of battle, and despite repeated efforts, Jim could not find it again.
In 2016, Johan Vanderwalle – an amateur archaeologist who was called to the construction site back in 2006 – visited Nanango to catch up with Hunter family members and describe his dream of creating a memorial.
He recalled the moment he first saw Jack’s body.
“As we lifted the groundsheet, at this moment I thought ‘This is when I will find out who you are, where you are from’,” Johann said.
He saw the body of an Australian soldier, and the preservation was remarkable. It seems the road surface had protected the temporary grave.
There was still skin on his face and his eyes were open.
“I saw the angle of the sun. I moved a bit to the right as my shadow was over him, and then I saw his eye …
“It was like a message in a bottle.”
DNA was used to identify Jack, and he was finally laid to rest at the Buttes New British Cemetery at Polygon Wood in 2007 in an event that made world headlines.
The Brothers In Arms Memorial Park is located in Zonnebeke, less than a kilometre from where Jack Hunter is now buried.
The statue will capture forever the love Jim had for his older brother Jack, and the tragedy that tore him from his family back home in Nanango.
- Related article: Haunting Tale Of Two Brothers
- External link: Brothers In Arms Memorial
What a touching story.