Objects of Substance- ANZAC Grove

One lone pine

2021 Our Lone Pine, ANZAC Grove, Rangakarra

In June 1921, the editor of the School Magazine lamented that continuing customs and traditions at Girls Grammar were so important that, if the girls themselves did not maintain them, then they would be lost. The tradition the writer was concerned about was the annual planting of trees on Anzac Day in an Anzac Grove to honour the soldiers who fought and died in the Great War. She then went on to advise the reader that the task of keeping up this custom and carrying on school traditions, rested with those girls who were in the lower school and with the new girls. Happily, today, the girls do not shirk their obligation to uphold the traditions of the School, and one contemporary and poignant reminder is present at Rangakarra. One hundred years after that magazine editor’s lament, there is, at the entrance to the Rangakarra grounds, the Grammar Anzac Grove, planted by current and past students. Traditionally, wattle, that powerful symbol of patriotism during the war years, is included. Sprigs of wattle and colourful badges were sold on Wattle Day to raise money for the Red Cross. In addition, the Wattle League arranged for wattle trees to be planted near the graves of fallen Anzacs. By the 1920s, it had become part of the Anzac Day celebrations to plant wattle trees in the School’s “ANZAC Grove” to commemorate the soldiers who fought in World War I and to remember our past pupils

who travelled far from home to care for them.

In the Editorial of the June 1920 magazine, the Grove is mentioned along with past pupils who were in attendance at the planting ceremony: Grace Wilson (1898), Jessie Andrews (1899), and Eunice Paten (1898). Matron Wilson joined the AIF in 1915 and departed on the SS Mooltan for Lemnos, where she was appointed Principal Matron of 3 rd Australian General Hospital. She went on to nurse at Abassia (Cairo), London, and the Somme in France. Jessie Andrews joined the AIF on 11 November 1914 and nursed in England and France while Eunice Paten joined the AIF on 21 September 1914 and served in Egypt, England, and France. Their names are inscribed on the Old Girls War Memorial Honour Board along with the names of eleven other Grammar students in the Annie Mackay Room. In 2013, following the purchase of the Fig Tree Pocket grounds, Girls Grammar began to develop and plant hundreds of trees on the site. In 2015, the celebration for the opening of Rangakarra was seen as the perfect opportunity to reinstate the “Anzac Grove” which had originated on the Spring Hill site. Naturally, the grove would include wattles. However, to accompany those trees, the School purchased a very special Lone Pine seedling from the Australian War Memorial nursery.

23 May, 2015: Rangakarra Open Day and the planting of the Lone Pine by the President of the OGA, Janine Schmidt (Hogg 1964) and Head Girl Gulbransen-Diaz

The Battle of Lone Pine is one of the most famous assaults by the Anzacs during the Gallipoli campaign. On 6 August 1915, troops were charged with capturing a key hilltop position. Rushing across No Man’s Land, the Australian troops succeeded in capturing the Turkish positions and withstood counterattacks. Six Australian battalions suffered nearly 2,300 killed and wounded at Lone Pine, where seven Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross. The highest number ever awarded to an Australian division for one action. Today, Lone Pine cemetery is the location of the Memorial to the Missing, on ground captured by the Anzacs in that 1915 battle. It commemorates the 4,224 Australians who died at Gallipoli and have no known grave, as well as the 652 Australians buried there.

Lone Pine cemetery, Gallipoli

The Lone Pine, an Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), was grown by the Yarralumla Nursery in Canberra, and was propagated from seed collected by soldiers from the original Lone Pine at Gallipoli. Once purchased, this little seedling travelled by plane to Brisbane and was couriered to the School, bringing with it the collective hopes and dreams of a past generation and passing them on to a new one. It is a special tree in a beautiful setting but it carries with it tradition, history, and a celebration of sacrifice and service. How pleased would the 1921 Magazine editor be to see the Rangakarra ANZAC Grove? Writing as she did, so close to the end of the Great War, when memories were so raw, her wish has been realised. This tradition has escaped from the archive and thrives, as actual trees but, more importantly, as an idea in the minds of the Grammar girls who understand the meaning of this

special tree. Jenny Davis Librarian in charge of Special Collections

2021 ANZAC Grove, Rangakarra.

2021 The ANZAC Grove viewed through the OGA gates.