Lone Pine Plot - Glenroi, NSW, Australia
S 33° 17.868 E 149° 07.136
55H E 697291 N 6313694
This straggly pine tree and surround is a Memorial for Gallipoli - 1915.
Waymark Code: WM18WV3
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 10/11/2023
Views: 0
The Lone Pine is set in a low stucco brick fence triangle at the corner of where Lone Pine Avenue comes off Bathurst Road on the outskirts of Orange, in the suburb of Glenroi.
There is a tall printed metal sign set in an arched black-painted pipe with the following text:
The Story
of the Lone Pine
"The Lone Pine
(Pinus halepensis) is named after a single tree that is believed to have been destroyed during the battle of Lone Pine at Gallipoli in 1915. The plateau surrounding Gallipoli was originally covered with scrub with a single stunted pine tree. The soldiers were influenced by a popular song of the time called ':onesome Pine'. The tree and the area were soon known as Lone Pine.
"The tree did not last long as its boughs were used by the Turks to cover the trenches. After the fighting, in which 7000 Australians and Turks were killed or wounded, at least two cones were taken from the branches and brought home to Australia.
"Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith os the 3rd Battalion sent a cone home to his mother, Mrs McMullin of Inverell (NSW), who propagated the seeds some years later. Two seedlings were raised, one being planted by the Duke of Gloucester at the Canberra War Memorial on 24 October 1934, the other presented to the town of Inverell.
"It is believed this tree is of the third generation and part of a 1930's fundraising scheme by the Returned Sailor's and Soldier's Imperial League of Australia (RS&SILA). The tree was originally planted in Robertson Park and was moved to its present location to form a pivotal point of Memory Avenue in c1939. The tree was donated by the Orange Sub-branch of the RS & SILA.
LEST WE FORGET
There is a small historic photo of the Gallipoli Lone Pine at the lower left of the sign.
There is a plaque, and a white marble tablet on the low wall that have the same text:
Gallipoli
Lone Pine plot
Donated by
Orange sub-Branch
R.S. & S.I.L.A.
Visited: 1628, Saturday, 12 November, 2022