NEW YORK: A pair of amateur historians has embarked on a mission to restore and record thousands of abandoned graves in Australia’s outback.
Alex Aitken and Trevor Tough are travelling through the remote Kimberley, tracking down long-forgotten burial sites.
“We’re recording the stories of all sorts of people who were up here in the early days,” Mr Tough explained.
“Not just the people who built stations and developed things, but the ordinary people like women and kids … who lived and perished here.
“It’s giving us a sense of how hard it must have been in the early days – so many of the graves we come across are of young men of 19, 21, 23 years old.
The outback graves project was sparked when the pair met at a 50-year high school reunion in Perth.
The old friends discovered a shared love of history and desire to hit the road.
Months of preparation ensued as the men trawled existing Lonely Graves of Australia history books, and made enough posts and plaques to honor more than 100 burial sites…