Avenues of Honour, Memorial and other avenues, Lone Pines – around Australia and in New Zealand Background: Avenues of Honour or Honour Avenues (commemorating WW1) Australia, with a population of then just 3 million, had 415,000 citizens mobilised in military service over World War 1. Debates on conscription were divisive, nationally and locally. It lost 60,000 soldiers to WW1 – a ratio of one in five to its population at the time. New Zealand’s 1914 population was 1 million. World War 1 saw 10% of its people, some 103,000 troops and nurses head overseas, many for the first time. Some 18,277 died in World War1 and another 41,317 (65,000: Mike Roche, pers. comm., 17/10/2018) were wounded, a 58% casualty rate. About another 1000 died within 5 years of 1918, from injuries (wiki). This had a huge impact, reshaping the country’s perception of itself and its place in the world (Watters, 2016). AGHS member Sarah Wood (who since 2010 has toured a photographic exhibition of Victoria’s avenues in Melbourne, Ballarat and France) notes that 60,000 Australian servicemen and women did not return. This left lasting scars on what then was a young, united ‘nation’ of states, only since 1901. Mawrey (2014, 33) notes that when what became known as the ‘Great War’ started, it was soon apparent that casualties were on a scale previously-unimaginable. By the end of 1914, virtually all of the major combatants had suffered greater losses than in all the wars of the previous hundred years put together. Apart from war memorials, avenues of Honour were a living way of remembering and honouring these lives and sacrifices. Australia vigorously embraced them. As just one tangent, in 1916 the Anzac troops’ landing at Gallipoli, Turkey led the Victorian Department of Education to encourage all Victorian schools to use Arbor Day that year (and subsequent years, including after 1918) to plant native tree species such as gums and wattles to celebrate the Anzac landing. A number of these early plantings, some of which were avenues, others groves, groups, scattered and single trees, remain. More research is needed to confirm which survive. Treenet, a not-for-profit organisation based in Adelaide launched ‘The Avenues of Honour 1915-2015 Project’ in 9/2004 as part of its 5th National Street Tree Symposium. This was a national initiative to honour with a tree the memory of every individual who made the supreme sacrifice on behalf of all Australians, by documenting, preserving and reinstating the original and establishing new Avenues of Honour by the 2015 Gallipoli Centenary. Treenet’s approach combined under the name ‘Avenues of Honour’ Boer War memorial, WW1 and WW2 memorial avenues. This is a different to the approach AGHS has taken, which distinguishes: a) Avenues of Honour = WW1; b) Memorial Avenues = WW2 (and sometimes subsequent wars); c) Other memorial avenues (other wars, e.g. Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq); d) WW1, WW2 and later War Memorial non-avenues: plantations / groves / trees; e) Notable avenues – not necessarily honour avenues or war memorials; and also lists f) Lone Pine trees and Gallipoli oaks, which commemorate ANZAC losses at Gallipoli in Turkey. A survey (Treenet1) in 2006 found 567 known Avenues of Honour in Australia, (over half, some 325, in Victoria) most of which remain in some form, although some are depleted/in poor condition. These are typically on public land, managed by local Councils, some having dedicated local management committees (RHSV, 2/2013). Of those, 2 are in the ACT, 67 in NSW, 52 in Qld., 38 in SA, 69 in Tasmania, 312 in Victoria and are 27 in WA. Cockerell (2006?) cites a national survey sent to 533 councils and many RSL branches. Some 80 avenues were identified from replies, a return rate of c.30%. She added in 2007 that 568 avenues were known around Australia. Avenues of Honour, Memorial & other Avenues, Lone Pines Page 2 Honour Avenues (WW1) – numbers by state or territory (Totalling Treenet & AGHS results to date, we find): ACT) AGHS has identified one ACT honour avenue to date. NSW) Treenet 2 notes 15 in NSW; 2 pre-date 1921; 5 are later 1920s; 2 from 1994+; most relate to WW1; 2 include both World Wars; the most-recent commemorate all conflicts that Australia has been involved in. 9 are known to be in good condition (including the two-oldest). 2 are now incomplete/in poor condition. AGHS has identified 54 NSW honour avenues to date; NT) AGHS has identified no honour avenues in the Northern Territory to date. NZ) AGHS has identified 24 Honour Avenues in New Zealand to date. Qld.) Treenet 2 notes 25 in Qld: two pre-1921; 3 1994+. One is lost and 10 complete. 5 for WW1, 8 for WW2: half in good condition. Roma has one of the best maintained and researched. Plant & Parke (Treenet) cite a 2007 Brisbane City Council publication with 24 avenues. Brouwer (2014) surveying Queensland ‘landscape’ heritage listings for AGHS identified 16 additional avenues and plantings. AGHS has identified 22 Honour avenues. SA) Treenet 2 notes 1 in SA, 2 pre-1921 and a total of 16 state-wide. 7 are complete and in good condition; only 3 confirmed as commemorating WW1 and 2 for WW2. AGHS have identified 77 SA honour avenues to date. Tas.) Treenet 2 notes 6 avenues, most for WW1. The national survey found 12. FOSMA/ Howard list 28 confirmed surviving (of 57 original WWI) Soldiers’ Memorial Avenues. FOSMA2 notes at least 84 avenues and plantings of commemorative trees, adding that not all are avenues. Many mark town entrances, special parks, road junctions, church and school grounds and ovals. Some, like Carrick & Longford, are street trees through towns, lining several streets. AGHS has identified 43 honour avenues to date (with a further 14 needing verification). Vic.) Stroebel says 128 (www.ballarat.com confirms that, adding ‘between1917-21’). A 1987 survey found 52 (www.ballarat.com says 58), many in poor condition. The 1987 Haddow survey identified 142 for WW1 and WW2 with 56 WW1 avenues remaining. The national survey found 92 avenues existed by 1921, 36 pre-1921; 21 in reasonable condition, 2 post-1994 and several have been restored. 9 have been lost although two (Dartmoor, Lakes Entrance) had trees removed and made into statues. 55 are recognisable and most in good condition. 58 relate to WW1 and 7 to WW2. Victoria has Australia’s two largest, with Ballarat’s comprising 3332 trees (of an original 3771) and the Calder Woodburn Memorial Highway at Shepparton comprising 2411. EIA noted elms were preferred, possibly due to symbolic association with death (coffins were often from elm). AGHS has identified 179 Victorian honour avenues to date. WA) Treenet 2 notes only 2. This survey found 1 pre-1921 and 3 planted that year. In 1996 Richards found 8. This survey found 14, 4 for WW1; one extended for WW2. 3 WW2 avenues remain to be dated and may be post- 1996. One was post-1994. 5 are complete, 3 in good condition. AGHS has identified 16 W.A. honour avenues to date: one (a triple avenue of NSW swamp mahoganies) was driven along during its 2014 conference. Memorial Avenues (WW2) The Haddow 1987 survey identified 142 for WW1 and WW2 with 56 WW1 avenues remaining. ACT) The AGHS has found one ACT memorial avenue to date. Avenues of Honour, Memorial & other Avenues, Lone Pines Page 3 NSW) Treenet 2 notes 15; most for WW1; 2 for both World Wars; the most-recent commemorate all conflicts Australia has been involved in. 9 are in good condition (including the two-oldest). 2 are now incomplete/in poor condition. The AGHS has found 27 NSW memorial avenues to date. NT) AGHS has identified no memorial avenues in the Northern Territory to date. NZ) AGHS has identified 7 memorial avenues in New Zealand to date. Qld) Treenet 2 notes 25 in Qld. 8 relate to WW2, with half in good condition. The AGHS have found 10 Qld. Memorial avenues to date. SA) Treenet notes one in SA. This survey found a total of 16 SA-wide. 3 commemorate WW1 and 2 relate to WW2. The AGHS has found 6 SA memorial avenues to date. Tas.) Treenet 2 notes 6; most for WW1. The national survey found 12. FOSMA confirm 4 survive (of 11 WW2 & general commemorative avenues. The AGHS has found 13 Tasmanian memorial avenues to date. Vic.) The national survey found 92 Victorian avenues by 1921. AGHS has found 22 Victorian avenues to date. WA) The national survey found 14. 4 of the WW2 ones remain to be dated and may have been planted post 1996. Only one was planted after 1994. 5 are complete, 3 in good condition. WA has one of Australia’s largest avenues at King’s Park (c1100 trees). In 1996 Oline Richards found only 1 WW2 avenue: the AGHS has found 14 to date. Avenues of Honour, Memorial & other Avenues, Lone Pines Page 4 Avenues of Honour / Memorial Avenues / Lone Pines / Other war memorial and significant avenue plantings – Australia-wide, listed by respective state/ territory – and in New Zealand Initial list and updates compiled by Stuart Read~; with additions from AGHS’s National Management Committee; John P. Adam, Treenet & diverse sources, who are thanked and that are listed at the end. Contents Introduction 1 Lone Pine plantings 5 Gallipoli Oak plantings (Quercus coccifera, cf Quercus robur) 7 States’ & Territories’ Avenues and other plantings: Australian Capital Territory 8 New South Wales 10 New Zealand 25 Northern Territory 43 Queensland 44 South Australia 51 Tasmania 56 Victoria 63 Western Australia 84 Overseas Lone Pines 88 References 89 Introduction The Boer War was the name given to the South African Wars of 1880-81 and 1899-1902 fought between the British and descendants of the Dutch settlers (Boers) in Southern Africa.