REMEMBERING HEROES

I mentioned yesterday that today would be the start of a new series looking at the Australian VC winners, those whose names flash past on blue signs at rest stops on the way to Canberra.

The road and those rest stops are part of the Remembrance Driveway.

This is by way of introduction to that series.

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Some facts:

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The Remembrance Driveway is a road and memorial system of arboreal parks, plantations, and road-side rest areas that provide a living memorial in honour of those who served in the Australian Defence Forces in World War II, the Korean War, Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War, and who continue to serve around the world.

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The most prominent feature of the driveway are a series of rest areas dedicated in honour of the Australian Victoria Cross recipients from World War II onwards.

Victoria Cross for Australia

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The Remembrance Driveway starts in Macquarie Place, Sydney, and follows the 320-kilometre (200 mi) Hume Highway, Hume Motorway, a small section of the Old Hume Highway, and Federal Highway between Sydney, the state capital of New South Wales, and Canberra, the national capital, where its end is at Remembrance Park, adjacent to the Australian War Memorial.

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The Remembrance Driveway was instituted in 1954 when Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh marked the beginning of the Driveway by planting two plane trees in Macquarie Place.

The spades used by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh to plant the first trees for the NSW Remembrance Driveway to Canberra in Macquarie Place, Sydney. The spades and a collection of photographs are located in Sydney Town Hall.

One of the trees succumbed to the weather in 2020:

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In 2002 three Red Spotted Gums were planted by the Governor-General in the Remembrance Park, behind the Australian War Memorial, Canberra to mark the Canberra end of the Driveway.

Location of the Dedication Plaque and three Red Spotted Gum trees marking the end of the Remembrance Driveway.

The Remembrance Driveway in Canberra, from a view on the steps of the Australian War Memorial. Parliament House and Old Parliament House in the distance.

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