Lone Pine Gallipoli 1915
When Australian troops arrived at the Gallipoli Peninsula in April, there was a ridge on which a solitary pine stood. The tree was a survivor of a group of trees that had been cut down by Turkish soldiers who had used the timber and branches to cover and fortify their trenches. Soldiers of both sides used the pine as a reference point and the area became known as Lone Pine.
On August 6 1915, the 1st Brigade AIF (Australian Imperial Force) launched a diversionary offensive at Lone Pine ridge. It was to be one of the bloodiest actions of the Gallipoli campaign and one that still sits in the minds of many as significant in Australian History.
The main Turkish trench was taken within 20 minutes but over the following four days of hand-to-hand fighting more than 2,000 Australian soldiers were killed along with an estimated 7,000 Turks.
The Australians gained vital ground although overall the Gallipoli campaign proved unsuccessful. Seven Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross for actions in the Battle of Lone Pine.
The solitary pine was destroyed in the shelling but not before becoming the namesake of the battleground and an emotional symbol of the enduring Anzac spirit. The site remained known as Lone Pine.
After the battle, at least two diggers salvaged pine cones from Lone Pine Ridge. Sergeant Keith McDowell, of the 23rd Battalion, collected a cone from the remains of the Lone Pine itself. He carried it in his rucksack as a memento for the duration of the war. On Sergeant Keith McDowell's return to Australia, he gave it to his aunt Emma Gray near Warrnambool, Victoria. A relative recalled him saying: 'Here Auntie, , you've got a green thumb, see if you can grow something out of this'.
She planted some of the seeds 12 years later. Five sprouted and four survived. In 1933 one of these was planted at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. The other three were also planted in Victoria, at Warrnambool Botanic Gardens and The Sisters, near where Emma's family lived, and at Wattle Park, in Melbourne.
Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith of the 3rd Battalion, whose brother Mark was killed in the Battle of Lone Pine, also collected cones from the branches used to cover the trenches. He sent them home to his mother in Inverell, New South Wales, in commemoration of his brother.
Mrs McMullen kept the seeds sitting in a drawer for 13 years before planting them in 1928 and producing two seedlings. One was planted in Inverell where her sons had enlisted. The other was planted by the Duke of Gloucester, Prince Henry, in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial site in 1934 to honour all those who fell at Gallipoli.
Lest we Forget
Descendent of The Lone Pine Tree
29th April 2015
Presented by Cedar Nursery and 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers
on the 100th Anniversary of the Gallipoli Landing
The tree is an Aleppo pine, not found naturally on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and it is thought the cone collected by Lance Corporal Smith was from branches of the species used by the Turks to build their defences.
An Australian War Memorial historian says the classification of the tree does not affect its symbolic significance, as it represents the bond between Australia and New Zealand - our shared experiences. It is also a symbol of friendship between us and the Turkish people.
The planting and nurturing of these Lone Pines
can be regarded as a symbolic act of
commemoration and a reminder of sacrifice
and courage.
The important thing is that we plant these trees
in memory of all those who did not return
from war.