The debate surrounding Mortlake’s Avenue of Honour looks set to continue after a new group joined the push for the replacement of its 191 cypress trees.
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A group of Mortlake veterans, led by former soldier Bart Robertson and Australian Army Captain Darren Stendt, are calling on the Moyne Shire to replace the trees with oak trees and increase their number.
The pair, who have been researching Australian military records, say the current number of soldiers honoured in the avenue is much lower than history indicates.
They are urging Moyne Shire to use the replanting as an opportunity to create an Australian first.
The military men want the avenue to mark the efforts of soldiers in all of the country’s wars.
“Our plan is to create the second longest Avenue of Honour in Australia, making the Mortlake Avenue of Honour a nationally significant memorial and tourist attraction in its own right,” Mr Stendt said. "It will also be the only Avenue of Honour to include veterans from all of Australia's conflicts.”
“There are 191 trees currently on Mortlake’s Avenue of Honour and yet we have already found 450 veterans registered to this area from the Great War alone.
“Our intent is that all 191 trees are replaced with oak trees and the avenue identifies and honours all eligible Mortlake and District veterans from the Sudan War in 1885 to current operations.”
Mr Stendt has served for over 20 years as an officer in the Australian army.
He has been deployed in war, diplomatic and humanitarian missions during his career, as well as being a committee member for the Geelong RSL and guest speaker at the 2018 Geelong ANZAC Day dawn service.
While on active service in East Timor, he was stationed with Mortlake man Mr Bart Robertson.
The pair read about the debate surrounding Mortlake’s Avenue of Honour via The Standard online and thus began their charge for changes.
Discharged from service in 2017 after injury, Mr Robertson served in both East Timor and Solomon Islands. He has also deployed on diplomatic, security and humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kenya, Somalia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Yemen
His motivation for the project is twofold, he said.
Our plan is to create the second-longest Avenue of Honour in Australia
- Australian Army Captain Darren Stendt
“I want to see all local veterans honoured in a well-considered and nationally significant Avenue of Honour that will improve the aesthetic appeal and amenity of Mortlake,” he said. “I also want to continue the legacy of my great-great grandfather Donald Robertson who, in supporting veterans in the early days of the Great War, publicly vowed to give a bible to every Woorndoo boy who enlisted.
“One of these bibles was later returned to Woorndoo in the personal effects of Trooper John Boswell who was killed at the ill-fated charge at The Nek in Gallipolli. “This small, personal connection to digger’s welfare and honouring their memory is what drives me.”
Mr Stendt and Mr Robertson said there were several inconsistencies in those honoured in the avenue.
“Six of the eight women who served in the Great War and all 34 women who served in all branches of the defence force in WW2 have no official commemoration or recognition in their home town,” Mr Stendt said. “So far we've identified 23 dead who never had a tree planted in their honour but there is one for a man who deserted twice.
“There are a number of trees dedicated to locals who were deemed medically unfit for service and never wore the uniform and so many missing all together. A review of the avenue and honouring of those missing is justified.”
Within their proposal the men have identified the need for oak trees to replace the fungus-prone cypress trees.
“Oak trees provide the unparalleled longevity, tradition, uniformity, visual gravitas and low-cost maintenance that other alternatives don’t have and the current Cypress trees never had,” Mr Robertson said.
“They’ll be a breathtaking entry into the township with equally spectacular seasonal colour variations, especially around Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.”
“This will also be the first Avenue of Honour in the world that acknowledges veterans of all its nation’s conflicts.”
Both believe the next step is to make a public appeal for all former and current soldiers and family members to make contact if they want to be added to the list of collected names.
They’d also like the community to understand their stance on the issue.
“The Moyne Shire need to listen to local young veterans from recent conflicts,” Mr Robertson said.
“Every veteran we have spoken to supports our stance and is willing to publicly support this, with more joining in as the word gets out.
“We also ask that the Mortlake RSL branch makes the effort to consult all the veterans from the Mortlake district, not just their own membership.
“We want the Mortlake community to know that the RSL does not speak on behalf of us as young veterans and that the RSL is definitely not the sole veterans group with a stake in the Avenue of Honour.”
Mr Robertson said the Ode of Remembrance was the campaign’s driving force.
“For 100 years we’ve been repeating the ode: ‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them’ but if the current Avenue is any indication, they really were forgotten by 1919.”
