The seven trees with their memorial cairn are dedicated to the memory of seven young men of Kongwak who lost their lives in service to their country between 1939 and 1945. By Jillian Durance
ON 11 November, as every year, Kongwak’s school children observed one minute’s silence and laid their poppies at the memorial cairn in this Valley of Peace.
Remembrance Day commemorates the end of the Great War on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day and the eleventh month of 1918.
With so many Australian dead on the battlefields on Gallipoli, France, Belgium and the Middle East, the people at home sought to honour those who had so willingly gone to the front. Thus began the great memorial building movement throughout the nation: statues, cenotaphs, honour rolls, memorial buildings and avenues of honour in particular.
ON 11 November, as every year, Kongwak’s school children observed one minute’s silence and laid their poppies at the memorial cairn in this Valley of Peace.
Remembrance Day commemorates the end of the Great War on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day and the eleventh month of 1918.
With so many Australian dead on the battlefields on Gallipoli, France, Belgium and the Middle East, the people at home sought to honour those who had so willingly gone to the front. Thus began the great memorial building movement throughout the nation: statues, cenotaphs, honour rolls, memorial buildings and avenues of honour in particular.
The Kongwak Avenue of Honour is the longest Avenue of Honour of the eight we have in South Gippsland. From its beginnings in August 1918 (even before the Armistice was signed), it has been consistently maintained and renewed by the people of Kongwak.
It contains some of South Gippsland’s most “Significant Trees”, including the magnificent Bunya Bunya Pine at the entrance of the Kongwak Hall.
This tree was the first planted by Charles Tulloch, the Hall Committee’s president, on 15 August 1918. The other 41 were planted by the family members of the soldiers associated with Kongwak, who answered their country’s call to fight in the Great European War of 1914-1918. Among them on that day at the opening ceremony were Kongwak’s school children, some of whom had lost brothers, uncles and cousins to the war. The trees were called “living memorials” and stretched from the hall right down to the bridge over the Foster Creek.
This tree was the first planted by Charles Tulloch, the Hall Committee’s president, on 15 August 1918. The other 41 were planted by the family members of the soldiers associated with Kongwak, who answered their country’s call to fight in the Great European War of 1914-1918. Among them on that day at the opening ceremony were Kongwak’s school children, some of whom had lost brothers, uncles and cousins to the war. The trees were called “living memorials” and stretched from the hall right down to the bridge over the Foster Creek.
After the Second World War the Avenue of Honour was extended westward along both sides of the Wonthaggi-Korumburra Road from the bridge to the edge of town. About 60 men and women who served were commemorated in this planting. Later their names were listed on a cairn near the hall where the annual Anzac Day and Remembrance Day ceremonies take place.
This year, 11 November also commemorated the fifteenth anniversary of the planting of the Church Road Avenue of Honour in Kongwak, an extension of the World War One Avenue of Honour on the main Wonthaggi - Korumburra Road.
This year, 11 November also commemorated the fifteenth anniversary of the planting of the Church Road Avenue of Honour in Kongwak, an extension of the World War One Avenue of Honour on the main Wonthaggi - Korumburra Road.
The seven trees with their memorial cairn were dedicated to the memory of seven young men of Kongwak who lost their lives in service to their country between 1939 and 1945.
All were known, as childhood friends and mates, to the late John Gow OAM and ex-serviceman of World War Two. John initiated the planting, seeking assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs; he wanted their lives and sacrifice to be especially remembered.
The seven trees, all hardy Pin Oaks, commemorate the lives of Norman Rippon and Christopher Grabham, both members of B Company 29/22 Battalion of the local militia who were killed in 1939 in an accident as they made their way into training in Korumburra; Lawrence Scott, Alan Bell and Arthur Grabham, all airmen of the Royal Australian Air Force who lost their lives in Europe; and James Elmore and Wesley Williams who died as prisoners of war of the Japanese (just two of 22,000 Australian servicemen who were held in captivity in World War Two).
The Church Road extension to Kongwak’s World War One Avenue of Honour, while less visible and less known, is still an important reminder of how much wars have affected the lives of South Gippslanders right into the present day. The families of those men still live among us; they still tell their stories and sense their absence in their homes. (The integrity of this part of the Avenue of Honour is threatened by the access road into the proposed Kongwak Butter Factory Development.)
It seems hard to imagine those times now but these trees are a reminder and testimony to a sense of service and duty to one’s country, and a willingness to sacrifice one’s life: they were all volunteers.
On 11 November the school children still observe the traditional one minute’s silence and lay their poppies at the memorial cairn in the enduring and beautiful Avenue of Honour in Kongwak’s Valley of Peace.
All were known, as childhood friends and mates, to the late John Gow OAM and ex-serviceman of World War Two. John initiated the planting, seeking assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs; he wanted their lives and sacrifice to be especially remembered.
The seven trees, all hardy Pin Oaks, commemorate the lives of Norman Rippon and Christopher Grabham, both members of B Company 29/22 Battalion of the local militia who were killed in 1939 in an accident as they made their way into training in Korumburra; Lawrence Scott, Alan Bell and Arthur Grabham, all airmen of the Royal Australian Air Force who lost their lives in Europe; and James Elmore and Wesley Williams who died as prisoners of war of the Japanese (just two of 22,000 Australian servicemen who were held in captivity in World War Two).
The Church Road extension to Kongwak’s World War One Avenue of Honour, while less visible and less known, is still an important reminder of how much wars have affected the lives of South Gippslanders right into the present day. The families of those men still live among us; they still tell their stories and sense their absence in their homes. (The integrity of this part of the Avenue of Honour is threatened by the access road into the proposed Kongwak Butter Factory Development.)
It seems hard to imagine those times now but these trees are a reminder and testimony to a sense of service and duty to one’s country, and a willingness to sacrifice one’s life: they were all volunteers.
On 11 November the school children still observe the traditional one minute’s silence and lay their poppies at the memorial cairn in the enduring and beautiful Avenue of Honour in Kongwak’s Valley of Peace.