Bring them home: Veteran seeks return of WWI memorial name plates

A VIETNAM War veteran is working to restore Queenscliff’s avenue of honour, the township’s living memorial to those from the borough who lost their lives in World War I.

The avenue of approximately 50 Monterey cypress trees was first planted in 1918, with each tree dedicated to the memory of a fallen solider.

Each was adorned with a memorial name plate set in a concrete plinth.

A deeply personal undertaking at the time, it is understood that at least half of the trees planted were paid for by borough residents.

Today, approximately 32 trees remain, with many removed over time due to poor health and changing infrastructure within the township.

Graham Christie said the avenue had been allowed to fall into disrepair, and all of the memorial name plates had been removed.

“The problem that I’ve got, being an ex-soldier, I’m coming across an avenue of honour that has been deteriorating for about 40 years.

“No one’s looked after it and it’s actually a jungle.”

He wants to see the avenue of honour reclaimed and restored, with name plates returned to the memorial on Flinders Street.

“We can’t get each tree named correctly because we don’t know which tree belongs to whom anymore,” he said.

Mr Christie said the name plates first began disappearing in the 1950s, with broken plinths still being discovered into the 1970s.

“Most people at the time seem to think it was vandalism, but I’ve actually researched it and gone into it pretty heavily. It wasn’t that at all,” he said.

“The families were breaking the plinths open, keeping the enamel name plate for their own, because they were getting concerned about the dereliction of…the avenue of honour.”

He is now urging those who may still have the name plates to “bring them home”, so they can be properly memorialised.

Many of the remaining trees along the avenue are now 100 years old and independent assessments have suggested many are in poor health and have an expected life of less than 10 years.

The Borough of Queenscliffe has previously backed calls to restore the avenue of honour, establishing a community reference group in late-2017 to inform the project.

At last update, a trial is underway to ensure a new generation of Monterey cypress trees can be planted successfully alongside the mature trees of the avenue.

The process is expected to take several years.