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Gallipoli PinePrint Page Print this page

30-September-2017
30-September-2017

Photographs supplied by John Huth

The Gallipoli Pine was planted to commemorate those who served in World War One. Pines which are planted as a memorial to the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought in Gallipoli are also known as "Lone Pines" or "Gallipoli Pines", referencing the original tree.

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. Seedlings grown from the cones were planted at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Seedlings were also planted in Victoria at Wattle Park, the Memorial Hall at The Sisters near Terang and Warrnambool Botanic Gardens as well as Inverell in New South Wales. 

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:Herbert & Margaret Streets, Kokoda Cottages, Millmerran, 4357
State:QLD
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -27.877005
Long: 151.271787
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Tree
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:WW1

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Tuesday 25th April, 1995
Front Inscription

Gallipoli Pine

A gift to Millmerran Sub-Branch RSLA from Harlaxton Sub-Branch RSLA 

Planted by Dennis Higgins (Secretary)

ANZAC Day 25th April 1995

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