The Mayor Greymouth F.W. Baillie and Bill Eade talk about New Zealand's Lone Pine memorial trees.
F. W. Baillie: On a ridge of the Gallipoli slopes stood a single pine tree which became a landmark and obtained its name from the fierce fighting which took place there. It was named by the forces who fought on Gallipoli as the Lone Pine Ridge. This tree was eventually destroyed but a cone which had fallen from it was sent back to Australia by an Australian soldier as a souvenir. In 1928 a relative of the soldier realised its significance and succeeded in raising four trees from the cones thirty year old seeds. One of these seedling trees is the Lone Pine now thriving at the National War Memorial in Melbourne. I became intensely interested, on reading this, and thought no better memorial could be dedicated to Greymouth than a tree grown from a seed of the Lone Pine situated on that famous ridge where so many of our troops fought and died. It would be a truly direct memorial from that famed battlefield. I immediately wrote to the authorities of the National War Memorial in Melbourne for some cones from the tree. They were most cooperative and very kindly sent over three. The next step was to extract and grow the seeds so I approached the conservator of forests, Mr. Kennedy of Hokitika, who was very happy indeed to cooperate and pass the responsibility of this task to the Forest Department Service at Totara Flat. He informs me that four of the seeds have germinated and are now thriving young seedlings and it is hoped that they may be ready for transplanting next Anzac Day. These seedlings are in the care of Alec Galloway, forestry nurseryman, and he is looking after them as though they were young children. I indeed, I intend handing over one of these to the Borough Council, one to the RSA, one to the United Football Club which has held Anzac memorial services since the First World War and one to the Hokitika Borough Council. I really thought that I was the first in the field with a memorial of this nature but as you will hear from the recording which follows the Christchurch RSA has a thriving tree growing on Cashmere hills, the seed of which is a descendent from the Lone Pine at Gallipoli. Although the Gallipoli campaign is now a dim memory the heroic deeds of our New Zealand troops in their baptismal fighting in World War I, on 25 April 1915, will forever be remembered and I hope these pine trees will be a lasting memorial to those West Coast boys who fought and died in that campaign.
Announcer: The sequel to Lone Pine - here is Mr Bill Eade, executive member of the Christchurch Main Body Association to finish this narrative for us.
Mr. Bill Eade: In 1948 an Aussie Anzac by name Jack Marshall meet a Hastings Anzac by name Mick Howard at Hastings and in the course of conversation mentioned that when the Imperial War Graves Commission was visiting Gallipoli one of the Aussie members obtained a cone from the famous Lone Pine. Five trees were propagated from this cone and are now growing in New South Wales. The upshot of this conversation was that Marshall sent Howard three cones from the New South Wales trees. They were handed to Mr. J.G. McKenzie, Superintendent of Parks and Reserves at Hastings who undertook to strike the seed. He had trouble because of cold weather to get the seeds to open and he was so interested in the venture that he hatched them in an oven in his kitchen. As far as we can ascertain six seedlings were germinated. One is growing in the Napier soldiers' cemetery, and another overlooks the soldiers' lawn cemetery at Taradale. Hastings has one - planted on a ridge of Te Mata Peak, overlooking Hastings and is quite visible from the main street. In fact this spot is very similar to the Lone Pine Ridge of Gallipoli. New Plymouth has one planted in the soldiers plot of Te Henui Cemetery in the very section where the children meet to hold their commemoration service. Ashburton has the fifth tree and it was from there that we heard of the existence of the sixth and last tree. Through the influence of Fred Gerbin of Hastings, the Christchurch Main Body Association secured the tree and it was brought from the Gallipoli reunion, in Wellington, last October by the local president Jack Fogarty. It is now in the care of the Christchurch Parks and Reserves Department. The Christchurch City Council has very generously give us four acres of Elizabeth Park on the Port Hills, overlooking the Sign of the Takahe, for the purpose of establishing a main body memorial. On 4 August 1956, at 10.30 in the morning, the grandson seedling of the Lone Pine was planted in this plot. The mayor of Christchurch, city councillors, heads of the armed services, kindred associations and members of the public attended the ceremony. The Bishop of Christchurch, the Right Reverend A. K. Warren, M.C. dedicated the plot and unveiled a marble memorial plaque which describes the history of the tree. We have been in communication with the Turkish government which has promised to send us seeds of trees and shrubs growing on or adjacent to the battlefields of Gallipoli. These seeds are on the way. Mr Gilpin of the Parks and Reserves Department has kindly offered to germinate these seeds and eventually our four acres will be planted with trees and shrubs actually obtained from the battlefields over which we fought.
Transcript by Sound Archives/Ngā Taonga Kōrero