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2nd / 30th Infantry BattalionPrint Page 
A Ficus destruens (Rusty Fig) was planted by His Excellency, the Honourable A.M. Gleeson AC, Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales, in the Woolloomooloo Precinct of the Domain on 7 October 1995, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the homecoming of the men of the 2nd / 30th Infantry Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel (later Brigadier) Sir Frederick Gallegham DSO ISO Ed.
A plaque set in the adjacent stone recorded that ‘They sailed from here [Finger Wharf, Woolloomooloo Bay], survivors returned here, we remember those who did not come home’. It is a tribute to the men of the battalion who sailed from the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo Bay on the Dutch vessel, Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt, on 29th July 1941 for active service in the Singapore - Malayan campaign. It is also a tribute to the memory of those men of the Battalion, who did not survive to make the return journey to the same wharf in October 1945. Of the more than 1300 men who passed through the 2/30 Battalion, 739 were recovered after the end of the war in the Pacific on the 15th of August 1945. Most of those who were then in Changi, returned to Australia on the Esperance Bay, arriving at the wharf opposite the memorial on the 9th October 1945.
Location
| Address: | Mrs Macquaries Drive, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, 2000 |
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| State: | NSW |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -33.865014 Long: 151.220089 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Tree |
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| Monument Theme: | Conflict |
| Sub-Theme: | WW2 |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 03-September-1939 |
| Actual Event End Date: | 15-August-1945 |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Saturday 7th October, 1995 |
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Plaque :
'They sailed from , survivors returned here ,
We remember those who did not return home.'
A tribute to the men of the 2/30 Battalion AIF commanded by
Lt Col (later Brigadier) Sir Frederick Gallegan DSO OBE ISO ED,
this tree was planted, on the fiftieth anniversary of homecoming by His Excellency the Honourable A.M.Gleeson AC Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales.
7 October 1955
'Lest We Forget'
Ronald H. Maston Royal Botanic Gardens
President 2/30 Battalion AIF Assoc and Domain Trust
Plaque :
In Remembrance Of
The Families And Friends
Who Endured Three And Half Years
Waiting For The Unknown
"They Also Served"
1942 -1945
2/30 Battalion A.I.F. Association
