History in the making

By Jeremy Sollars

Warwick author and researcher Deborah Wheeler is very keen to hear from anyone with historical family connections to Stanthorpe’s Kyoomba Sanitorium.
She’s assisting the Stanthorpe RSL with a research project on Kyoomba, which was established for repatriated Diggers suffering from tuberculosis (TB) and those who developed lung damage due to the effects of the German gas they encountered while serving in the trenches on the front line of combat in World War I.
The project recently received a $20,000 grant from the Queensland Government under its ‘Spirit of Service’ funding program so Deborah is now powering ahead with her research, including unearthing details of the many soldiers who were treated at Kyoomba and the many nurses and other staff who cared for them.
Kyoomba is a small township some three kilometres outside Stanthorpe. The hospital was known variously as the Kyoomba Sanitorium, Kyoomba Military Hospital or the Stanthorpe Military Hospital. The Granite Belt was known to be an ideal place to recuperate for these patients due to its high altitude and clean dry air.
If you can assist in any way please contact Deborah Wheeler on 0414 852 492.

(BREAKOUT)
Soldiers from Warwick and Stanthorpe who were at Kyoomba …
STANTHORPE:
BARTON, Milton William Everard.
DAY, Francis Nathaniel.
WARWICK:
FLITCROFT, William Daniel.
GALLAGHER, Herbert.
LAVERY, James Thophilna.
O’BRIEN, George Edward (aka Leslie O’Brien).
RUSSELL, Cyril Walter.
Round four of the Queensland Government’s ‘Spirit of Service’ grants program, offering grants of up to $20 000, is now open and closes on Sunday 15 October.
The Lasting Legacies grants program for larger projects is also open, offering grants between $20,001 and $80,000, with round six closing 28 January.
For more information, to apply for a grant, or for details on the successful grant projects visit www.qld.gov.au/anzac100.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said these grants “honoured the service of Queensland men and women in the First World War, as well as other significant military anniversaries”.