At the Bridport Anzac Day Service, the more than 300 people who packed the Bridport Hall heard a truly incredibly story from speaker Ann-Maree O'Keefe.
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Ms O'Keefe was not expecting to recover a lost artifact from her grandfather, who had served in World War II, when a friend joined a Tasmanian history and genealogy group on Facebook.
But that's exactly what happened, and at the service, Ms O'Keefe was able to hold up a century-old diary containing the thoughts and feelings of her grandfather when he was a young man enduring the 'war to end all wars' - a diary which until this January, she didn't even know existed.
In trying to hunt down information about her own relatives, Ms O'Keefe's friend made a post in the group 'Findings Tasmanians from the past' group that mentioned Ms O'Keefe's maiden name, Illingworth.
This is the message she received, from a total stranger named Wayne Osborne.
"My father found a diary in France whilst serving in the Great War. On the fly leaf is the name Oliver James Illingworth and the address is Garfield Street, Launceston. I assume attempts were made to find the family at the time and were unsuccessful. Previously my mother has written to the Tasmanian branch of the RSL advising of the diary but had no response. If you are aware of any surviving family members we are happy to return the diary."
"You can imagine how excited I was when I recognised my granddad's name," Ms O'Keefe said.
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She quickly arranged for the diary to be posted to her Bridport home.
"The day it arrived I told my sister Lyn and and we opened it with my husband Paul videoing the exciting moment," she said.
"When we opened the first page we both said 'that's granddad's writing'. It was a goosebumps moment."
Oliver Illingworth's personality shone through in the diary.
He recorded his journey, from Tasmania to Melbourne to Freemantle, and then onto South Africa, Sierra Leone, England, and the French front line.
Many of the entries started with the phrase, "it's a bonzer day!"
And Ms O'Keefe said she felt much the same way when she found out about the diary, and was able to make one final connection with her grandfather.
She felt the same way again on Anzac Day, with the grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren of Oliver Illingworth all present at the service and representing their ancestor who risked everything for his country.
"It's a bonzer day," she said.
