(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
The extraordinary service of migrants in the Great War is being honoured as part of Australia's ANZAC centenary commemorations.
Once unsung heroes, a new book is putting the sacrifices of a dozen migrant families firmly in the headlines.
Karen Ashford has the story.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
The Corigliano family is famous in South Australia for fishing.
What's less well-known is their story of past sacrifice.
It's a story that begins with Sicilian migrant Charles Corigliano, who jumped ship in Western Australia in the late 1800s and made his way to Beachport, south of Adelaide.
There he met his Irish bride Mary O'Connell and fathered 15 children - the four eldest boys Jack, Peter, Charles and Maurice volunteering to defend the nation during the first World War.
Today, their nephew, 85 year old Maurice Corigliano describes their contributions with pride.
"Jack rose up the ranks to become Engineer Lieutenant Commander from a stoker, and he was the longest serving man in the Australian navy when he retired. Another brother, Maurice, was killed at the battle of Fromelles, Peter was an artilleryman and was badly gassed during the war and Charlie - he served 12 years in the navy and he was on the first (HMAS) Sydney when it sank the Emden, the German cruiser Emden, in the Cocos Islands in the First World War."
Maurice the younger never met his namesake, who was initially reported as missing in action.
It became evident he'd been killed, but the whereabouts of his body was unknown.
Then a chance discovery of a mass grave in 2008 meant the South Australian prawn baron could play a vital part in solving a family mystery.
"Eventually they located this burial site where there were 250 bodies buried, and then the job was to find out who was who - and as a matter of fact, it was my DNA that established that Maurice was one of the 250 missing."
The other three brothers survived, the injured Peter returning to join his nephew at sea.
Maurice Corigliano says, like many returned servicemen, his uncle was taciturn about the horrors he'd witnessed.
"Quite badly gassed - but he took up life back in Australia afterwards, and all he ever said to me, because I used to fish with him, he'd often say those poor horses, oh those poor horses. Because there they were up to their haunches in the mud and shot and shelled and it was hitting them and killing them - that haunted him more than the human loss."
The Coriglianos are amongst a dozen families featured in a newly produced historical guide for schoolchildren that gives insights into migrant Anzacs.
Veterans' Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson describes it as a cauldron of people from Europe the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere who, through war, helped forge the Australian spirit.
"When they left these shores, they left as one, and I think that's the really important part of this story, that they left as one. They came from all over the world but they left as one. It's almost the untold story of this nation and I think the contribution of those who may not have originally called Australia their home, to that war effort, it's a great story - and should be told and has been told, which I'm very pleased about."
Maurice Corigliano is as proud of the recognition of his family's service as he is of the seawater that runs through the family's veins.
"Someone sent me a letter that they'd written to (Adelaide daily) The Advertiser - no name, they didn't put their name to it, it was anonymous - but letting me know, and they said the Coriglianos have done this country proud and I feel that way."
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