tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post6428381196215154348..comments2024-03-29T15:04:20.549+11:00Comments on ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: Remembrance Day in Ballarat: 1914-1918Helshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-38801756297469732642012-11-17T10:23:47.454+11:002012-11-17T10:23:47.454+11:00Andrew
thank you for that. I had no idea there was...Andrew<br />thank you for that. I had no idea there was even an issue in Bacchus Marsh Avenue of Honour. And well done, the workers from the Darley Firebrick Company.<br /><br />Here is what the Minister said in Jan 2012: Three kilometres in length with 281 elm trees, the Bacchus Marsh Avenue of Honour and its magnificent cathedral-like arching canopy is a living memorial to those who served our country.<br /><br />The trees were planted on 10th August 1918 by local volunteers and workers from the Darley Firebrick Company, and the community effort attracted over a thousand spectators. At the conclusion of a bugle call, 281 elms were planted in symphony, each representing an individual soldier, each with a name plaque.<br /><br /><br />Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-53828363120133663752012-11-16T16:35:46.956+11:002012-11-16T16:35:46.956+11:00VicRoads wanted to remove five trees from the Aven...VicRoads wanted to remove five trees from the Avenue of Honour to build a round-a-bout. I did not realise the matter had been resolved until now. http://melton-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/bacchus-marsh-avenue-of-honour-preserved-for-future-generations/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-21978513098744184842012-11-16T12:06:34.330+11:002012-11-16T12:06:34.330+11:00columnist
The flourishing of nature, yes! The par...columnist<br /><br />The flourishing of nature, yes! The parents, widows and orphans of the soldiers visited their individual trees and lovingly looked after them. <br /><br />But what happened with the passage of time? After the youngest siblings died, who would have remembered or cared about dead teenagers from 1914-18? I can imagine that by 1970, the names and the sacrifices would have been totally forgotten :( Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-60620796305552295952012-11-15T22:51:27.339+11:002012-11-15T22:51:27.339+11:00A tree is such a terrific memorial to anyone. The ...A tree is such a terrific memorial to anyone. The resultant memorials to those who died in the slaughter of WWI is a testament to the ghastliness and magnitude of mindless death. Would that the flourishing of nature would teach us the decimation of life. Sadly, we may remember, but we seldom learn.columnisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03764365428633038329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-3261603796395695962012-11-15T11:01:34.230+11:002012-11-15T11:01:34.230+11:00Leon and Sue,
*nod* I often think that community ...Leon and Sue,<br /><br />*nod* I often think that community action is more sincere and heart felt than official action by a government minister or a lord mayor. <br /><br />Not only did the Lucas girls lose their brothers and school friends; I believe they understood that a generation of potential husbands had been wiped out. My grade 5 teacher in the 1950s was still lamenting the loss of her pilot-fiance in 1916 :(Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-33314196343231156612012-11-15T10:54:33.805+11:002012-11-15T10:54:33.805+11:00Foto fanatic
After two very divisive and bitterly...Foto fanatic<br /><br />After two very divisive and bitterly fought referenda at home, Australia finally legislated for mandatory conscription in Sept 1916. But by then arguably the worst two years of endless, needless massacres of teenage boys on both sides had been "achieved". Needless to say I am anti-war and anti-conscription, except for self-defence.<br /><br />Those teenagers were babies, and they didn't even have the vote. Memorials in every single suburb and country town were therefore essential at the time and, as you say, still now.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-25839954714891799282012-11-15T09:10:11.620+11:002012-11-15T09:10:11.620+11:00There is a significance in these memorials that ex...There is a significance in these memorials that exists today.<br /><br />Young men, asked by their country (I know WWI soldiers were largely volunteers, but there was surely social pressure) to fight far from their homes, sacrificed their lives as a result of a conflict that had little to do with them.<br /><br />We humans learn our lessons painfully slowly.the foto fanatichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17234840691455844914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-86199106908306204522012-11-15T08:32:34.399+11:002012-11-15T08:32:34.399+11:00Always enjoy your informative articles. How many t...Always enjoy your informative articles. How many times have we driven the Avenue of honour, hard to say but it always impresses me.<br />I didn't know the history of its origins. What forward thinking ladies of the Lucas factory.<br />LeonLeon Simshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17609891995057827081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-16296384466467167812012-11-14T12:57:46.375+11:002012-11-14T12:57:46.375+11:00Jim
Correct :) Ballarat is one of my favourite go...Jim<br /><br />Correct :) Ballarat is one of my favourite goldfield towns. I try and spend one long weekend there each year.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-69538800833485486622012-11-14T12:56:20.174+11:002012-11-14T12:56:20.174+11:00Maria
agreed. The arch is imposing and the avenue...Maria<br /><br />agreed. The arch is imposing and the avenue of honour is long and handsome. But the memorial rotunda and wall are more intimate.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-87508654514328072962012-11-14T12:52:15.029+11:002012-11-14T12:52:15.029+11:00Andrew
what happened to the Bacchus March avenue ...Andrew<br /><br />what happened to the Bacchus March avenue of honour that makes you think it wasn't treated with respect? Vandalism? Lack of maintenance?Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-81625842085136968762012-11-14T12:29:43.688+11:002012-11-14T12:29:43.688+11:00The arch is magnificent.The arch is magnificent.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16361781616939928650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-15687036428097591952012-11-14T11:46:43.748+11:002012-11-14T11:46:43.748+11:00DH and I visited Ballaarat in May and I was amazed...DH and I visited Ballaarat in May and I was amazed at the size of this memorial; very impressive!Mariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12594244181463706442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-81577374423958909962012-11-14T11:06:46.708+11:002012-11-14T11:06:46.708+11:00While I've been to Ballarat a few times, I hav...While I've been to Ballarat a few times, I haven't seen the arch. Avenues of Honour should be treated with utmost respect, which unfortunately for the Bachus Marsh avenue, are not always by authorities. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-135446544166887292012-11-14T08:56:55.191+11:002012-11-14T08:56:55.191+11:00Don
The Great Ocean Road is actually a perfect ex...Don<br /><br />The Great Ocean Road is actually a perfect example. When the Depression struck in 1929-31, and BIG projects had to be designed and funded by government, the Great Ocean Rd went ahead. Brilliant plan!<br /><br />Even better, the government gave priority to employing ex-servicemen from WW1.<br /><br />Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-17598227245515118592012-11-14T08:52:46.221+11:002012-11-14T08:52:46.221+11:00Parnassus
Good point.
The reason we have to focu...Parnassus<br /><br />Good point.<br /><br />The reason we have to focus on the personal is because our governments (British first, then all the British Empire nations) that no family would be allowed to repatriate their dead son's body from where he fell in Flanders or wherever. This was sensible since the army couldn't afford to return the bodies, and rich families shouldn't be privileged over poor families. Every identifiable body was to be buried in an Imperial War Grave, in Europe.<br /><br />But where did the parents and widows go, to mourn their dead? Not back to Europe! And not to a collective shrine or arch in the middle of a public highway.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-56498754193264492122012-11-14T08:43:44.429+11:002012-11-14T08:43:44.429+11:00Hanna
I agree. It is especially important to take...Hanna<br /><br />I agree. It is especially important to take teenagers to war memorials because they have little sense of history. My boys had no idea that their grandfather was a soldier in WW2 and that my grandfather was a soldier in WW1.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-5980627770014368412012-11-14T05:06:02.348+11:002012-11-14T05:06:02.348+11:00I wonder why the idea of an Avenue of Honour never...I wonder why the idea of an Avenue of Honour never took off in New Zealand? I would have thought the idea of individualising trees to each fallen soldier would have appealed. Again, I never cease to be impressed by our creative Australian cousins, the "Great Ocean Road" which I was on last year being another case in point.Don001https://www.blogger.com/profile/01616610232620567907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-7872228959059544832012-11-14T01:03:53.332+11:002012-11-14T01:03:53.332+11:00Hello Hels, I think that both kinds of war memori...Hello Hels, I think that both kinds of war memorials are needed, the grand-scale ones that remind us of the scale of the tragedy (and sometimes to help convince or remind that a victory or principle was worth it), and also these more personal monuments, that remind us of the individual sacrifices and grief of which the larger is composed.Parnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-11946161548424754342012-11-13T22:36:24.136+11:002012-11-13T22:36:24.136+11:00I enjoying visiting the war memorials of every pla...I enjoying visiting the war memorials of every places. It simply means that they value the heroes of the world war. Its a part of history and should be preserve and shared ti the new generation.<br /><a href="http://gynecologistinwestpalmbeach.yolasite.com/blog/why-would-women-plan-a-pap-test-with-their-gynecologist-in-west-palm-beach" rel="nofollow">obgyn west palm beach</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03455081622484052131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-67368395619134692402012-11-13T19:23:26.680+11:002012-11-13T19:23:26.680+11:00Jane and Lance
I hadn't thought about it till...Jane and Lance<br /><br />I hadn't thought about it till you two responded, but of course *slaps forehead*! <br /><br />The avenue of named trees was designed and planted by female staff of the Lucas factory, with the support of local farmers. It was low key and very personal.<br /><br />The Arch of Victory was designed by the Head of the Art School at the School of Mines, so it was professional, formal and heroic. The arch wasn't remotely personal.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-20287437296228357412012-11-13T18:12:19.775+11:002012-11-13T18:12:19.775+11:00Hello Hels:
The idea of trees being planted to com...Hello Hels:<br />The idea of trees being planted to commemorate the dead of the First World War, and indeed the Second, is something which we feel to be an appropriate memorial to all those who lost their lives in these most terrible conflicts. The arch at Ballarat, in our view, on account of its rather oppressively grand construction, somewhat takes away from the original intention of a simple avenue.<br /><br />Here, as you may imagine, the commemoration of those who have died in the service of their country remains fairly low key although, of course, War Memorials exist.Jane and Lance Hattatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16831890261259302647noreply@blogger.com