www.monumentaustralia.org.au

Fire Victims MemorialPrint Page Print this page

21-September-2023 (Keith Pakenham)
21-September-2023 (Keith Pakenham)

Photographs supplied by Kent Watson / Roger Johnson / Keith Pakenham

The monument commemorates the ten bushfire fighters of the Wangaratta Rural Fire Brigade who died near here when overwhelmed by a bush fire in 1943.

On the spot where the Wangaratta Bush Fire Unit was destroyed and at or near where ten persons lost their lives or later died from injuries in the bushfire on December 22, 1943, on the Tarrawingee road, a memorial to the victims was unveiled by Mr P. P. Inchbold, M.L.C. The monument is of granite and has the following inscription :-"A tribute to the memory of Kevin Dunkley, Andrew Guthrie, Claude Hill, John Marks, Theodore Lea, Joseph (Louis) Ryan, Norman Robinson,
Edward Seymour, Godfrey Spencer, A. W. Wellington, who lost their lives near this spot while fighting the disastrous bush fire on 22nd December, 1943. Duty nobly done. Erected by the residents of this district in grateful remembrance."
Wodonga and Towong Sentinel, 5th January 1945.

Location

Address:Great Alpine Road, Tarrawingee, 3678
State:VIC
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -36.381437
Long: 146.403332
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Disaster
Sub-Theme:Fire
Actual Event Start Date:22-December-1943
Actual Event End Date:22-December-1943

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Friday 22nd December, 1944
Front Inscription

A tribute to the memory of 

Kevin Dunkley     Joseph (Louis) Ryan
Andrew Guthrie   Norman Robinson
Claude Hill           Edward Seymour
Theodore Lea      Godfrey Spencer
John Marks          A. W. Wellington

Who lost their lives near this spot while fighting the disastrous bush fire on December 22nd 1943.

Duty nobly done.

Erected by the residents of this District

In grateful remembrance

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