by Bonnie Collings
More than 100 veterans buried at the Trafalgar Cemetery have been honoured with their national flags in a joint project organised by the Trafalgar Cemetery Trust and the Trafalgar-Thorpdale RSL sub branch.

In an early Anzac Day commemoration, flags were placed by the graves of 160 veterans last Tuesday and will remain on display until Saturday.
The Trafalgar Cemetery Trust in conjunction with the Trafalgar-Thorpdale RSL sub branch decided to install the flags as a new annual Anzac Day tradition for the community, creating a visual reminder for the number of veterans and service people laid to rest in Trafalgar.
"What better way to mark them than to plant a flag beside their grave," Trafalgar-Thorpdale RSL sub branch president Jim Crowe said.
Trafalgar Cemetery Trust co-chairs Robyn Gunn and Linda Davies said the idea was inspired by another cemetery that had undertaken a similar project.
"I thought this could be awesome out at Trafalgar because it's on the side of the hill, (it's a) wonderful way to remember those who had served in various wars," Ms Gunn said.
"It's a way of giving back, a way of recognising (them), you don't realise how many are there until you mark them all," Ms Davies said.
In total, 160 flags were installed at the cemetery, including one New Zealand flag and five Union Jack flags.
Ms Gunn also created a special display board located in the rotunda.
Cemetery trust secretary Howard Jones took on the task of locating the veterans buried at the cemetery.
His research involved cross-referencing data from the RSL with lists of people buried at the cemetery and following up information in books and other records.
While there are 160 flags on display this year, Mr Jones has been able to confirm that 230 veterans are buried in Trafalgar and is confident there will be 250 or more.
"Next year's going to be even bigger because Howard has been finding more names," Mr Crowe said. "We had to draw the line (at 160) a few weeks ago because we had to order all the stuff in."
About 2500 people are buried in the Trafalgar Cemetery, meaning almost 10 per cent are veterans. At the last count there were 71 World War I veterans.
A challenge Mr Jones encountered in his research was the number of unmarked graves in the cemetery.
"A lot of the flags are on unmarked graves," Mr Jones explained. "Some of them (veterans) who were wounded in World War I came home in hospital ships and unfortunately their families didn't have enough capital to put a marking on their grave."
Mr Jones said anyone interested in making a donation to help purchase a marking for the graves should email the Trafalgar Cemetery Trust.
About 26 people helped install the flags at the cemetery last Tuesday.
The group varied in age, including children, parents and grandparents, some with relatives buried in the cemetery and others just eager to help the cause.
"There were some families whose forebears are buried there, who were veterans, they were very keen (to be) banging in posts, attaching flags and finding other grave sites as well," Mr Crowe said.
Mr Crowe said the Trafalgar-Thorpdale RSL sub branch would host an event in conjunction with installing the flags each year.
To help maintain the new tradition, interested individuals are invited to sponsor a veteran or make a donation to the cemetery trust to help purchase flags for future years.
Enquiries can be emailed to trafalgarpubliccemetery@dcsi.net.au