Robinvale - Euston Memorial Park Print Page

Lest We Forget

Plaque :

Robinvale - Euston Memorial Park 

Officially opened 24th April 2018, by Andrew Broad M.P. Member for Mallee.

For all who served.

Plaque :

Mediterranean Fig Tree

The Fig tree represents a landmark within the Tobruk battlefield, 1942, when the Australian 9th Division held on during the Siege of Tobruk.  The actual Fig tree concealed a cave entrance which was used as a forward casualty clearance station, undetected by the Germans for the duration of the Siege of Tobruk.

Plaque :

Middle East Date Palm (Pheonix dactylfera)

Cultivated Date Palms have been in existence in Palestine for 5,000 years.  It is thought they originated in Iraq and Egypt.  They can reach a height of 20 metres or they can form a clump with several stems from a single root system.

They have great significance to Australia from World War 1, when the Australian Imperial Forces were shipped to Egypt in 1915, when Egypt became the staging camp for training purposes.  The palms provided important shelter for the Australian Light Horse men and their "neddies" during the last great cavalry charge at the Battle of Beersheba. 

These Date palms represent many facets of WW1 and WW2 as well as ongoing engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Plaque :

The Gallipoli Lone Pine

There are at least two species of Pines in Gallipoli, “Turkish Pine” of the species Pinus brutia, or “Aleppo Pine”, of the species Pinus halepensis.

This tree is believed to be a “Turkish Pine”, a direct descendant of the “Gallipoli Lone Pine”, a solitary tree which marked the site of the Battle of Lone Pine in 1915.  The Gallipoli Lone Pine was the sole survivor of a group of trees that were cut down by Turkish soldiers, who used the timber and branches to cover their trenches during the battle.  Pine cones were retrieved by various Australian soldiers and brought home.

Plaque :

Indigenous Servicemen

It is believed that at least twelve indigenous men fought in the 1899 – 1902 Boer War.  Over one thousand indigenous volunteered for service during World War 1.  More than three thousand volunteered during World War 2, along with many who served in military Auxiliaries in Northern Australia.  These men were volunteers, as they wer exempt from war service.  They received the same pay and experienced the same conditions as all servicemen in the armed forces – something that did not happen in civilian life.

Many volunteers served in mounted units in Palestine.  In the 11th Light Horse, an entire squadron (one hundred and twenty men) were of Aboriginal descent.  Private W. R. Firebrace, from Balranald, lies in the British Cemetery in front of the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Brettoneux.  There are eleven thousand names of missing Australians with no known grave in the Somme, including twelve soldiers of Aboriginal descent (ref : author, Aland Blankfield).

Reginald Walter Saunders was the first Aboriginal to be commissioned as an Officer in the Australian army in WW2.  His ancestors served in the Boer War and WW1.  He served in North Africa, Greece and Crete with the 2 / 7th Battalion and became a platoon commander, as a Lieutenant, still with the 2 / 7th, in New Guinea.

Sergeant Pilot, Len Waters, was the first Aboriginal to become a pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force.  He flew a Tigermoth during training at Narrandera before posting to 2 OTU Fighter Training Unit in Mildura in 1942, then was posted to 78 Squadron flying P40 Kittyhawk fighter planes at Nooemfor, Dutch New Guinea, Morotai and Tarakan in Borneo and completed ninety-five “sorties” (Missions).  He was allocated a Kittyhawk, which had been named “Black Magic” by its previous pilot.  This amused him and he retained the name.  The plane served him throughout his service ; it gave him good luck, as in one of his missions, a Japanese 37mm anti-aircraft shell lodged behind him in the cockpit – but didn’t explode.

Plaque :

de Havilland A4 DHC-4 Caribou propeller representing the Royal Australian Air Force

The de Havilland DHC-4 Caribou STOL transport aircraft served the R. A. A. F. from 1964 until 2009.  This aircraft was incredibly robust with a very short take-off and landing capability.

The R.A.A.F. used twenty-nine aircraft of this type, seven of which were lost during their service life.  The DHC-4 served admirably for almost eight years in the Vietnam conflict and was known as the "Wallaby Airlines" due to the official call sign "Wallaby".

The Caribou carried over 6000,000 passengers as well as a considerable amount of cargo before the last Caribou returned to Australia in February, 1972.

This aircraft type served the ADF very well throughout New Guinea, where it was most suited.

Plaque :

M2A2 105MM Howitzer, 1967 - 2007 representing Australian Army

The M2A2 105MM Howitzer was used by the Royal Australian Artillery as an infantry support weapon.  Designed by the United States Ordnance in 1943 as the M2A1, it proved an accurate and mobile weapon.  The M2A2 could propel a 42lb. semi-detached projectile in excess of 12,500 yards, at   a velocity of 1,550 feet per second.

During the Battle of Long Tan on August 18, 1966 and again during the Battle of Ap My An, Phuoc Tuy Province on February 17 and 18, 1967, close support from elements of the R. A. A. F., and M113 carriers and fire support of M2A2 Howitzers, proved pivotal.

The M2A2 Howitzer was deployed in Vietnam from 1967 to 1975 and retired in 2007.  This Howitzer was one offered by tender, by Defence Disposals after being demilitarised in 2011.