diff --git a/man/freedombone-image.1.gz b/man/freedombone-image.1.gz
index 9e85f2d5..0ed01bb2 100644
Binary files a/man/freedombone-image.1.gz and b/man/freedombone-image.1.gz differ
diff --git a/src/freedombone-image b/src/freedombone-image
index 1fa58ef1..fc920275 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-image
+++ b/src/freedombone-image
@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE=~/${PROJECT_NAME}-wifi.cfg
 # Whether to install non-free wifi drivers for the mesh client
 INSECURE='no'
 
+# for mesh installs whether to delete all data and generate
+# a new identity at every shutdown/boot
+AMNESIC='no'
+
 mesh_router_setup_script() {
 	# create a setup script for a mesh router
 	mesh_script_filename=$1
@@ -223,6 +227,10 @@ do
 			shift
 			ONION_ONLY="$1"
 			;;
+		-a|--amnesic)
+			shift
+			ONION_ONLY="$1"
+			;;
 		-r|--repo|--repository)
 			shift
 			PROJECT_REPO="$1"
@@ -385,7 +393,8 @@ make $IMAGE_TYPE \
 	 WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE="$WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE" \
 	 VARIANT="$VARIANT" \
 	 MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH="$MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH" \
-	 INSECURE="$INSECURE"
+	 INSECURE="$INSECURE" \
+	 AMNESIC="$AMNESIC"
 
 if [ ! "$?" = "0" ]; then
 	echo $'Build failed'
diff --git a/src/freedombone-image-customise b/src/freedombone-image-customise
index 69a2a82a..c9e4bab4 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-image-customise
+++ b/src/freedombone-image-customise
@@ -102,6 +102,10 @@ BROWSER=iceweasel
 
 MESH_INSTALL_DIR=/var/lib
 
+# for mesh installs whether to delete all data and generate
+# a new identity at every shutdown/boot
+AMNESIC='no'
+
 enable_eatmydata_override() {
 	chroot $rootdir apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y eatmydata
 	if [ -x $rootdir/usr/bin/eatmydata ] && \
@@ -536,6 +540,11 @@ initialise_mesh() {
 	MESH_SERVICE='mesh-setup.service'
 	MESH_SETUP_DAEMON=$rootdir/etc/systemd/system/$MESH_SERVICE
 
+    MESH_STARTUP_PARAMS="${MY_USERNAME}"
+	if [[ $AMNESIC != 'no' ]]; then
+		MESH_STARTUP_PARAMS="${MY_USERNAME} amnesic"
+	fi
+
 	echo '[Unit]' > $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
 	echo 'Description=Initial mesh router configuration' >> $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
 	echo 'After=syslog.target' >> $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
@@ -545,7 +554,7 @@ initialise_mesh() {
 	echo 'User=root' >> $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
 	echo 'Group=root' >> $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
 	echo 'WorkingDirectory=/root' >> $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
-	echo "ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/${PROJECT_NAME}-image-mesh ${MY_USERNAME} > /var/log/mesh-setup.log" >> $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
+	echo "ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/${PROJECT_NAME}-image-mesh ${MESH_STARTUP_PARAMS} > /var/log/mesh-setup.log" >> $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
 	echo '' >> $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
 	echo 'TimeoutSec=99999' >> $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
 	echo '' >> $MESH_SETUP_DAEMON
diff --git a/src/freedombone-image-make b/src/freedombone-image-make
index 5df12f00..52fb1c7b 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-image-make
+++ b/src/freedombone-image-make
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ export WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE
 export VARIANT
 export MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH
 export INSECURE
+export AMNESIC
 
 # Locate vmdebootstrap program fetched in Makefile
 basedir=`pwd`
@@ -222,6 +223,7 @@ sed -i "s|WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE=.*|WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE=\"${WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE}\"|g"
 sed -i "s|VARIANT=.*|VARIANT=\"${VARIANT}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE3
 sed -i "s|MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH=.*|MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH=\"${MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE3
 sed -i "s|INSECURE=.*|INSECURE=\"${INSECURE}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE3
+sed -i "s|AMNESIC=.*|AMNESIC=\"${AMNESIC}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE3
 sed -i 's|#!/bin/bash||g' $TEMP_CUSTOMISE3
 
 cat $TEMP_CUSTOMISE2 $TEMP_CUSTOMISE3 > $TEMP_CUSTOMISE4