www.monumentaustralia.org.au

90th Anniversary of the ANZAC LandingsPrint Page Print this page

05-November-2017 (Russell Byers)
05-November-2017 (Russell Byers)

Photographs supplied by Russell Byers / Roger Johnson

The Pine tree commemorates the 90th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli, in Turkey in April 1915 during World War One. 

Note : As at 5 November 2017, the original tree has been replaced with another.  An insidious disease had taken its toll on a the original tree which had suffered a significant decline in health due to Pine Wilt Nematode (Bursaphelenchus Xylophilus).  The original tree was removed and existing soil replaced and sterilised by sunlight for a period of three months. 

The Lone Pine was the name given to a solitary tree on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, which marked the site of the Battle of Lone Pine in 1915 during World War One and it was the sole survivor of a group of trees that had been cut down by Turkish soldiers who had used the timber and branches to cover their trenches.

The tree was obliterated during the battle; however, pine cones that had remained attached to the cut branches over the trenches were retrieved by two Australian soldiers and brought home to Australia. Private Thomas Keith McDowell, a soldier of the 23rd Battalion brought a pine cone from the battle site back to Australia, and many years later seeds from the cone were planted by his wife's aunt Emma Gray of Grassmere, near Warrnambool, Victoria and five seedlings emerged, with four surviving. These seedlings were planted in four different locations in Victoria: Wattle Park (May 8, 1933), the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne (June 11, 1933), the Soldiers Memorial Hall at The Sisters near Terang (June 18, 1933) and Warrnambool Botanic Gardens (January 23, 1934).

Another soldier, Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith from the 3rd Battalion, also retrieved a cone and sent it back to his mother (Mrs McMullen) in Australia, who had lost another son at the battle. Seeds from the cone were planted by Mrs McMullen in 1928, from which two seedlings were raised. One was presented to her home town of Inverell (New South Wales) and the other was forwarded to Canberra where it was planted by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester at the Australian War Memorial in October 1934.

The Shrine of Remembrance's lone pine was felled in August 2012 and the timber used as part of a remembrance project, after a disease known as Diplodia pinea or blue stains fungus as it commonly called killed it.
 

Location

Address:Bridge & Market Streets, Queen Elizabeth II Square, Muswellbrook, 2333
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -32.265885
Long: 150.888792
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:Tree
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:Multiple

Dedication

Front Inscription

Plaque :

Hunter Valley District Council of RSL Sub Branches

This tree, a descendant of the Lone Pine, was planted on the 16th of April 2005, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Landings at Gallipoli, Peninsula

Planted by :
Mr Don Rowe, OAM - President of the NSW Branch of the RSL
Mr Michael Costa - Minister for the Hunter
Major General P Irving, AM RFD - Commander 2nd Division
Brigadier J Colvin, AM RFD ED (Retd) - Mayor of Muswellbrook

"The price of liberty is eternal vigilance"

"Lest We Forget"

Organising Committee : President - Mr Darren McManus - Smith JP
Secretary - Mr Desmond Green,
Treasurer - Mr Garth Carlson JP,
Mr Greg Cole,  Mr Brian Boughton CSC OAM, Mr Daniel Sloan,
Mr Andrew Janssen, Mrs Wendy Wand, Detective Inspector Timothy Seymour, Mr Bruce McFarlane, Mr Warwick Randall, Mr Raymond Butchard

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au