Avenues of Honour

15/06/2026

22/04/2026

In 1927, 99 years ago, the shops stayed shut across every Australian state for the first time.

It was the year 25 April moved from a day of local remembrance to a unified national public holiday.

Australia was a nation of fewer than six million people still mourning the more than 60,000 who died during the war.

The early 1920s had seen the date become established as the primary day of commemoration.

By the middle of the 1930s, the traditions we recognize today were firmly set in place. These rituals included the dawn vigil and the march.

They included memorial services and reunions. Even the informal tradition of two-up became part of the established culture during this decade.

The focus of the day eventually grew to meet new losses. It served to commemorate those who died in the Second World War.

Later, the meaning broadened further to include those who lost their lives in all military and peacekeeping operations involving Australia.

The first time the day was commemorated at the Australian War Memorial was in 1942. It was not the large public event we see today.

Government orders prohibited large gatherings because of the threat of Japanese air attacks.

There was no march. There was no memorial service. It was a small and quiet occasion.

Despite those early restrictions, the Memorial has held a ceremony every year since.

On 25 April 2026, we step into a tradition that is 110 years old. Whether you stand at a dawn service or join a reunion, you are participating in a culture that was built piece by piece by those who came before us.

Lest we forget

Rod Hutchings
Director, Virtual War Memorial Australia

21/04/2026

🌳🌳APRIL AVENUES

Our third feature for April Avenues shows the long history of avenue planting in Queensland.

🌳📜 MEMORIAL AVENUE, POMONA QLD

The first two trees of the memorial tree planting in Pomona were planted on Anzac Day in 1917, which is likely the first avenue of honour in Queensland. The plantings were organised by the Women’s Recruiting Committee, with the support of the Noosa Shire Council and Noosa War Council. Each tree was to be surrounded by a guard and identified with a tablet giving the soldier’s name, regiment and place of burial.

One of the first trees was planted to honour Private Robert Alexander Ellis. Robert grew up in Pomona and worked as a timber cutter before enlisting for service. Training as part of the 9th Australian Infantry Battalion, nicknamed “The Guards of Queensland”, for four months before leaving his wife and child to embark from Sydney in April 1916.

It was in December of the same year that Robert was with his battalion in Flers in France, which on December 26th was bombed heavily by German artillery and Robert seriously injured his left leg and shoulder. He was immediately evacuated but died of his injuries three days later.

The avenue of plantings in Pomona unfortunately have not survived. Whilst the community continues to remember the fallen through the Memorial Park and Rotunda. The original plans for the ‘soldiers’ commemoration park’ in Pomona commenced under the guidance of the Noosa Shire Council in 1917, officially being opened in 1939.

We are very interested to hear more about the history of the Pomona Memorial Avenue. Details are scant, and we are missing current photos of the area. Please get in touch if you can help with this or any other avenues!

You can read more about this avenue on our website:
https://avenuesofhonour.org/places/queensland/pomona/pomona/

We are always interested to hear more about avenues of honour around Australia, including more detail about those on our website, or any that might be missing from our database. Please get in touch via our website if you have information to share!

20/04/2026

This video link provided by Mal Padgett. He wrote this Avenues of Honour piece back in 2003.

It was prepared for his biannual visit to the Fantadia projection festival in Asolo in the Treviso region of Italy. He wanted to share with the audience of mainly Italian, but also French, German, British, American and some other nationalities, the story of our Avenues of Honour.

It was later exhibited, along with other artworks honouring memorial tree avenues, at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance, and subsequently at the overnight video program at Gallipoli shown on the large LED screens in the hours before dawn to the thousands of pilgrims there to honour those who gave everything for King and country.

Thanks Mal.

Written and directed by Mal Padgett OAM, Photography & Cinematography by Terry Hope, Music Chopin’s Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2 BMG Music






https://youtu.be/ehOzaLHIArw

1 like. "Avenues of Honour"

14/04/2026

𝗔 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘?
In the 1920s and 1930s, Anzac Day was customarily marked in Sassafras by a march from Dewrang Corner* (the corner of The Crescent and Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd) along Anzac Avenue – at the time lined by an Avenue of Honour first planted in 1916 – to the Sherbrooke Corner, where the memorial now stands. Aside from returned servicemen, these marches were normally led by the Salvation Army Boys Home Band from Bayswater and included pupils from the One Tree Hill, Sassafras and Olinda state schools. Following this custom, a similar march was held on Armistice Day, 11 November.

This photo was taken on Armistice Day 1929, at the Sherbrooke Road corner, where the stone shelter containing the index to Anzac Avenue was erected a decade later. One detail is remarkable: to the left in the photo is the Rising Sun flag (𝘒𝘺𝘰𝘬𝘶𝘫𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶-𝘬𝘪), the military ensign of Japan. Japan had signed a treaty with Britain in 1902 as a hedge against Russian expansion in Asia. It made a significant contribution to the allied war effort during World War 1, having committed 800,000 personnel and naval resources. In declaring war on Germany, Japan opened the way to seize a number of German territories in China and the Pacific. Japan proved to be a useful and effective ally in securing the Allied victory, especially through its naval role. But there were growing concerns around Japanese territorial expansion even before the war had ended. In 1923, Britain annulled its alliance with Japan.

However, relations between Australia and Japan remained cordial in the 1920s. There were diplomatic ties, with a Japanese Consul-General residing in Sydney. In 1928, two warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy visited Melbourne to a warm reception. By 1930, Japan had become one of Australia’s most important trading partners.

* Dewrang was a guesthouse at that location. It was destroyed by fire in July 1931.

(𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦: 𝘔𝘋𝘋𝘏𝘚 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯)

𝗔𝗡𝗭𝗔𝗖 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
◼️Dawn Service, 06.30am, Ferny Creek Memorial, cnr Sherbrooke Rd and Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd. 'Gunfire breakfast' to follow at the Scout Hall, Clarkmont Rd. Gold coin donation.
◼️Commemorative Service, 9am, Peace Memorial, Ellis Jeeves Reserve, Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd, Kalorama (opp. Five Ways Lookout).
◼️March and Service, 10.30am, Sassafras Village Green. BBQ and drinks, Dandenong Ranges RSL Sub-Branch, Mountain Highway, Sassafras.

Dandenong Ranges RSL

09/04/2026

April Avenues weekly feature will highlight a select few of our Avenues from around Australia, leading up to Anzac Day - this one on Memorial Avenue in Orange, NSW.

01/04/2026

23/02/2026

Does anyone know the current status of the Memorial Grove at Canungra?

‘The Grove’ is one of the most beautiful war memorials you've never seen and now the veterans who made it want to share it with the public. Stream full episo...

04/02/2026

Oatlands, Tasmania
Living Memorials Fade Against the Rich Backdrop of Built Heritage

The Discover Tasmania tourism website https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/regions/hobart-and-south/oatlands/captures the essence of Oatlands, on the shores of Lake Dulverton in the centre of Tasmania. Just off the Midland Highway, as one of the state’s oldest settlements it is rich in convict and settler history and conserved architecture.

Oatlands developed around a military precinct in the late 1820s. It appears a Soldiers Memorial Avenue was planted in 1947, along High Street, to honour the service and sacrifice of 10 local WW2 servicemen. The original tree species has not yet been determined. Evidence of the avenue is in the form of some original bronze plaques mounted on small plinths; these appear randomly assigned to a few existing (perhaps replacement) Silver Birch (Betula pendula) street trees.

The trees honoured Captain WP Taylor, Sergeant V Green, Sergeant RT Gregg, Sergeant TM Harriss, Corporal B Goss, Private FJ Harrison and Private JH Bailey serving in the Australian Army; and Able Seaman F Norman, Able Seaman C Norman and Able Seaman W Stevenson serving in the Australian Navy.

Over the past 79 years the focus on this living memorial commemorating involvement of enlistees from the Oatlands district in WW2 has clearly been overshadowed. Memorial trees and connections with local families have been lost and community memory has faded, although the rich colonial and convict history is preserved. By contrast, the stone war memorials and monuments have pride of place, set against Oatlands’ historic Town Hall.

See also Oatlands Lone Pine
https://avenuesofhonour.org/places/tasmania/oatlands/oatlands-lone-pine/

If anyone knows more about this avenue or another not listed on the Avenues of Honour website, please get in touch!