These are photos (taken March 2007) of what I call my Gallipoli pines. They are 6 Allepo pines or Pinus halepensis. I planted them at my property at Bungendore in 1987. They were struck from seeds from two old Allepo pines which are located on the banks of the Shoalhaven river where the Kings Highway crosses it about 15 kiometres west of Braidwood, NSW. There used to be a schoolhouse where the pines are and the story goes that a Braidwood soldier returned with seeds from the original Lone Pine at Gallipoli in Turkey and distributed seeds to schools in the district to be planted as memorials to the Australians who fell in battle at Gallipoli.
There appears to be confusion and even mythology about seeds that originated from the original Lone Pine. Here is what the official Australian War Memorial web site says:
Lone Pine or Plateau 400 was the scene of a major diversionary offensive launched by the 1st Australian Infantry Division on 6 August 1915. The Turks had cut down all but one of the trees that clothed the ridge to cover their trenches. The ridge dominated by the single Allepo Pine (Pinus halepensis) became known as Lone Pine. In three days of fighting the Australians lost more than 2000 men and the Turks losses were estimated at 7000. Seven Victoria Crosses were awarded. As far as we know two Australian soldiers souvenired pinecones from the ridge that found their way back to Australia. Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith of the 3rd Battalion whose brother was killed in the battle for Lone Pine Ridge sent a cone home to his mother, Mrs McMullen at Inverell in New South Wales. Mrs McMullen kept the cone for 13 years until 1928 before planting the seeds. She grew two seedlings, one of which she presented to the town of Inverell and the other to the Parks and Gardens section of the Department of the Interior in Canberra. The Duke of Gloucester planted this second tree at the Australian War Memorial in October 1934. Today it stands over 20 metres in height.
Sgt Keith McDowell of the 24th Battalion carried a pinecone in his haversack until the end of the war. Upon returning home to Australia he gave it to his Aunt Mrs Emma Gray, who lived at Grassmere near Warrnambool Victoria. A decade or so later Mrs Gray planted the seeds and four seedlings were grown. One was planted in May 1933 in Wattle Park, Melbourne. Another at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and another at the Soldiers Memorial Hall at The Sisters. The last was planted in the Warrnambool Gardens.
In 1990 two trees were taken back to Gallipoli with war veterans who attended the memorial service to mark the 75th anniversary of the battle of Lone Pine.Since the 1980s many trees have been grown by both seed and grafting techniques from material collected from the tree at the Australian War Memorial. These have been disseminated to many organisations including RSL branches and clubs, schools and other interested organisations.
It is interesting that this account makes no mention of the pines near Braidwood that are the grandparents of the trees I planted. Nor does it mention the ones planted adjacent to the Turkish war memorial at the top of Anzac Parade just outside the Australian War Memorial. There appears to be evidence that there may be more than the few Lone Pine descendants mentioned in the Australian War Memorial’s website. For example in the Brisbane Courier-Mail of 17 April 2007 a story about the proposed new dam on the Mary river states: ‘A 90 year old tree grown from the seeds of the original Gallipoli Lone Pine will be destroyed if the controversial Traveston Dam is built’. It is located next to the war memorial in the small town of Kandanga. The RSL sub-branch president is quoted as saying: ‘There were a few a few others but they all died. The last one died in Sydney about seven years ago.’
I wonder just how many seeds were brought back from Gallipoli and how many grew into mature trees around Australia. Clearly these pines hold special significance for Australians because of the Gallipoli connection and it would be interesting to find out.
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