The first planting of 1000 trees occurred on Monday, 4 June 1917 in wet and windy weather. Suggestion arose over time that this particular Avenue could connect Ballarat and Melbourne. This included the updating of the individual plaques to reflect if a service man or woman had been killed.
#Goodgame empire ruby mine series
The names of those brave men and women who served were derived from enlistment records and called for by the Avenue's committee through a series of newspaper articles and word-of-mouth activities. Each tree represented a Ballarat serviceman or nurse who enlisted during World War One, and included a bronze plate with the name, battalion and tree number. By 1919, 3771 trees extended 22km along both sides of the Western Highway from Ballarat to Burrumbeet. The planting of the trees was undertaken by 500 employees of that white works company, with the first planting of trees taking place in 1917. The creation of the movement to build the avenue has been attributed to Tilly Thompson, the director and executive officer of the Lucas Clothing Factory. The Ballarat Avenue of Honour was envisioned as a symbol that "will last for all time, and their children and children's children will be able to point out how their parents made history for Australia and the Empire". Such memorials to the living (not only those killed in action) are apparently unknown in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand. Popular writings suggest that the Ballarat Avenue of Honour was a catalyst for the planting of many similar avenues throughout Victoria, but records show that in 1917 the State Recruitment Committee of Victorian municipalities called for a planting of avenues of trees to represent all those serving in the war. Courtesy Federation University Historical Collection.
The Ballarat Arch of Victory showing early plantings in the Ballarat Avenue of Honor, c1920.
0 kommentar(er)
