For almost three months, Alistair Goodall worked, sometimes in the snow, restoring the headstones of Australian WWI soldiers who died not on Europe's famous battlefields, but 30km northwest of London.
Mr Goodall and five other local stonemasons spun the headstones of 112 Australians smooth again and painstakingly re-engraved the original inscriptions to ensure future generations don't forget their sacrifice.
They've been working in the small Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Harefield, Middlesex.
"We've got diamond pads that we use and the stone will be rubbed right back," Mr Goodall told AAP while rubbing the white stone softly.
"Virtually the inscription's completely gone, and then we'll mark it out again and recut it."
Each headstone takes at least half a day to repair. If it rains or snows, Mr Goodall and the others pull wooden A-frames with plastic sheeting over the graves so they can continue working.
The story of Harefield dates back 100 years.
Three months after the outbreak of WWI, a wealthy Australian couple living in Britain offered the use of Harefield House and its grounds to Australia's defence department.
At first a convalescent home for wounded soldiers of the Australian Imperial Force, it became the 1000-bed No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital after additional huts were built.
Of the 50,000 patients treated there, 112 didn't recover and died, including the only woman buried in the cemetery, Australian army nurse Ruby Dickinson.
Each Anzac Day, local villagers gather in the adjacent 12th century church to pay tribute to the diggers. Local children lay fresh spring flowers on the graves.
Australia's high commissioner in London, Alexander Downer, visited Harefield in February to watch the last few headstones repaired before turf was replaced and new plantings put in.
"It's great to see the headstones fully restored in time for Anzac Day this year," Mr Downer told AAP.
"These were nearly all young men who volunteered, crossed the world, fought for their cause, and eventually died, and they deserve to be remembered with respect.
"We wouldn't want to see the cemetery rundown or the headstones wearing away."
The first member of an Australian unit was buried in the cemetery in February 1916.
The last digger who died of war wounds was laid to rest in August 1918 although more were subsequently buried after dying of illness.
Weathered headstones are usually replaced, but in Harefield they have been restored because they're so unique.
The scroll designs, chosen by staff and patients, were created before the end of the war, thus predating the standard Commonwealth War Graves Commission design used from the 1920s.
"Here at Harefield, when we inspected the site, we felt that we needed to do a complete site renovation," CWGC spokesman Peter Francis said.
"It was almost as if we needed to give the guys back their identity by re-engraving the headstones.
"For us, an illegible name is a brave man forgotten and that's just not acceptable."
It's a big and costly exercise.
But how can anyone put a price on what the diggers did, Mr Francis said.
"They made the ultimate sacrifice. There's a debt that we can never truly repay, but by passing their legacy on to the next generation, we're doing what we can to make sure we never forget."
