Memorial trees and plaques

Looking out at the Shrine reserve, you may see that most trees have a dedicated plaque at their base. Over 300 trees throughout the shrine reserve are dedicated to various Australian battalions, squadrons and specialised service units, such as in the HMAS navy and the air force, encompassing various conflicts from the Boer war to the Vietnam war. Many units visit their respective plaques in the shrine for commemorative services. Trees are also dedicated to prisoners of war, Aboriginal Australian soldiers and disabled veterans, along with allied nations in the major wars; with some species native to the country it represents.

The Bhutan cypress and Monterey cypress are dedicated to numerous nations and battalions, due to the cypress trees’ symbolism of death and the underworld, often used in Roman mourning rituals. 

Trees in the North East features WW1 battalions and allied nations, NW trees features WW2, South West is focused on the navy and South East mostly encompasses the air force.

Living memorials “This Gallipoli Holly Oak”, grown from an acorn from the original tree in Gallipoli, brought by Sir John Monash, the military commander of the First World War.

Another “living memorial” is the fig tree that was grown from a grafted branch from the Tobruk battleground in WW2. Made up of mostly Australians, the Tobruk garrison defended against German and Italian soldiers in Egypt for 8 months.