Soldier settlement were set up following both World Wars in many parts of Australia for discharged soldiers under schemes administered by the state governments. The state government realised the importance of providing a source of income for returning soldiers as well as to recognise the personal and family sacrifices made by them. An additional goal was to develop rural industries.
In 1916, the New South Wales government introduced the Returned Soldiers Settlement Act, allowing soldiers to apply for Crown Lands if they had served overseas with the Australian Imperial Forces or with the British Defence Service. The soldiers also needed to have been honourably discharged to be eligible.
The land was available on affordable terms and they could also receive advances of money to make improvements to the land, which was often in poor condition. They could also use the money for equipment, plants, stock and seeds. Soldiers who had received smaller blocks of land often experienced significant hardships.
The Returned Soldiers Settlement Act 1916 was amended in 1917 to allow other soldiers such as those who did not serve overseas to be eligible to apply for Crown Lands.
In most cases Crown land was set apart for returning soldiers who were required to be certified as qualified and to remain in residence on that land for 5 years in order to buy or lease such a block. In this way, remote rural areas set aside for these settlements were (theoretically, at least) guaranteed a population expansion which would, in turn, create a need to develop infrastructure in the area. Soldiers who were successful in gaining such a block of land had the opportunity to start a farming life in a number of rural activities. However this was not always successful, and many soldier settlers suffered hardships due to poor land, poor farming practices, a lack of infrastructure and of course the depression in the 1930’s.
The program was more successful for servicemen and their families after World War II. The infrastructure and support these new farmers needed was improved as a direct result of learning from the mistakes that came during and after the first attempts at these settlements following WWI.
The land releases for the soldier settlers in this area became available to returned servicemen in 1937. They had to apply for one of the 9 farms in the area (6 near here at Taylor's Creek and 3 further south at Currandooly) between 29 December 1947 and 30 January 1948. The Land Board held a ballot of the applications in Queanbeyan on 5 February, 1948. The blocks were described as being suitable for ‘wool growing’ or ‘fat lamb raising’ on those with ‘pasture improvement’.
This memorial, and the cache here, honours those servicemen and their families, who are mentioned on the memorial. When retrieving the cache, please think about the sacrifices these people made.
Congratulations, mnjontour, for being FTF.