www.monumentaustralia.org.au

Lone PinePrint Page Print this page

21-April-2019 (John Huth)
21-April-2019 (John Huth)

Photographs supplied by Graeme Saunders / John Huth

The Pine tree commemorates 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. 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:Memorial Avenue, Emerald, 3782
State:VIC
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -37.933247
Long: 145.438656
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:Tree
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:WW1
Actual Event Start Date:04-August-1914
Actual Event End Date:28-June-1919

Dedication

Front Inscription

Lone Pine

The Aleppo Pine (Pinus Halepenisis)

Once covered the ridges overlooking ANZAC Cove at Gallipoli, Turkey.

By 1915 the Turkish had cut down all but one tree, to line and cover trenches to be used in the defence of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

The tree planted here is a direct descendant from  the original now known as the Lone Pine.  

During three days in August 1915, in the vicinity of  the Lone Pine, 3000 ANZACS and an estimated 7000 Turks lost their lives.

A cemetery was constructed on the Lone Pine site, and three Emerald locals who gave their lives during this battle lie at rest there.

The Lone Pine is recognised by the RSL as a symbol of the ANZAC spirit.

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