Probably most people know Lone Pine Avenue has a special link to the ANZACs and their famous assault in the Gallipoli campaign in the Battle of Lone Pine.
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A pine tree at the intersection of Bathurst Road and Lone Pine Avenue came from the storied battlefield in Gallipoli.
But not according to a story published at abc.net.au on Wednesday, which claimed a pine in suburban Melbourne’s Wattle Park was one of only four direct descendants of the Lone Pine tree.
The story said the other three were planted around Victoria between 1933 and 1934, with Wattle Park Heritage Group chairman Tom Thorpe quoted as saying it's probable a few soldiers brought home pine cones from the Lone Pine tree.
But after the battle at least two other pine cones were taken from the branches of the Lone Pine tree and brought home by Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith, who gave one to his mother in Inverell, who propagated the seeds.
Two seedlings were raised, one was planted by the Duke of Gloucester at the Canberra War Memorial in 1934 and the other was given to Inverell.
The Orange-based tree was donated by the Returned Sailor’s and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia in the 1930s. It was originally planted in Robertson Park but moved in 1939 to its present location to form part of a Memory Avenue.
The Lone Pine attack in August 1915 pitted Australian forces against formidable entrenched Turkish positions, sections of which were securely roofed with pine logs taken from the single tree.
There were 7,000 Turkish casualties and 3,000 Australian, with seven Aussies being awarded Victoria Crosses for their bravery.