Centenary for avenue honouring ANZACs

Images courtesy of City of Moreton Bay, reference number PRLPC-P0001.

December 5 marks 100 years since the opening of Anzac Memorial Avenue – a thoroughfare which has since evolved from a heartfelt tribute to homegrown Diggers to major arterial road.

The 18km road is still the longest memorial avenue in Queensland and was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2009.

Redcliffe Museum will host a free community event on December 6 from 10.30am-noon, with historian Helen V. Smith as guest speaker.

The idea for a memorial to honour local fallen soldiers was mooted shortly after the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.

The overwhelming consensus was that it needed to be something of grand magnitude that would benefit the community for years to come. A road for the growing number of motor vehicles being used by locals and visitors was a popular option.

In 1921, Royal Automobile Club of Queensland President TJ Rothwell put the proposal to his members and the Redcliffe Road was selected. An organising committee was established seeking support from motorists and the public.

The project not only aimed to honour fallen WWI Diggers, it was designed to create employment for returned soldiers and others struggling to find work in tough times.

A notice was published in the Daily Mail on July 1, 1922.

“The result will be at least one good road in the metropolitan area, and this will doubtless be the forerunner of many more,” it read.

Later that month, the same publication reported there had been a meeting in Redcliffe during which Mr Rothwell outlined the proposal. A committee was formed to get the ball rolling and seek support from Main Roads.

It was decided that, as well as building a road, the project would plant trees lining the route to honour individual fallen soldiers and make it a landmark. Donations were sought and badges sold to raise money.

Reports in The Steering Wheel publication in December 1922 said work on the road, with 25 returned soldiers, had started. By March 1923, 50 soldiers were toiling on the project.

In November 1923, the Brisbane Courier reported the road was slowly taking shape including the bridge over Hays Inlet, which was expected to open the following month. It said total expenditure had been more than £30,000.

On March 4, 1925, The Brisbane Telegraph printed an article about a ceremony to celebrate the planting of the first trees.

The ‘Pioneer Trees of Anzac Memorial Avenue’, included palm trees donated by the widow of Tom Petrie, which were planted at the School of Arts at Petrie.

Anzac Memorial Avenue was officially opened by Queensland Premier Mr W Forgan-Smith on December 5, 1925.

The first tree planting ceremony in Redcliffe was held on July 7, 1926. About 1700 trees were planted along the 18km stretch of road, at a cost of just over £1 per tree.

Sources: The Story of Anzac Memorial Avenue (2014 edition), History Redcliffe archives.

Community event

A free event will be held at Redcliffe Museum on December 6 from 10.30am-noon.

Guest speaker is historian Helen V. Smith.

Bookings are required.

Visit moretonbay.qld.gov.au/Galleries-Museums/Events/RM/Anzac-Avenue-Centennial-Celebration