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Lone PinePrint Page Print this page

29-November-2015
29-November-2015

Photographs supplied by Neil Follett

The Pine tree commemorates those who have served in the various conflicts in which Australia has been involved.

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).

The Shrine of Remembrance's 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.

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.

Location

Address:Saxonwood Drive, Zerbes Reserve, Doncaster East, 3109
State:VIC
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -37.779241
Long: 145.162471
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

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

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Tuesday 25th November, 2014
Front Inscription

Manningham
Balance of city and country

This tree was planted on 25 November 2014 by His Worship the Mayor Cr Jim Grivokostopoulos with the President & members of the RSL Doncaster Sub-Branch

The seedling was propogated from the seed of the Lone Pine that grows at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, which was propogated from pine cones sent back to Australia by soldiers after the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 

This tree serves as a memorial to the men and women who have served Australia in all wars, conflicts and peace keeping operations

Lest We Forget

 

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