Remembrance and Commemoration through Honour Avenues and Groves in Western Australia

Abstract

Like other countries of the British Empire, war commemoration and war memorial building pervaded Australia after the Great War. Anxious to remember war dead Australian cities and towns chose to erect masonry monuments or buildings to remember those of the district who had died or served. Alternatives existed in the form a tree-lined avenue with each tree representing a soldier or sometimes a nurse. This activity was reinforced by the established tradition of ceremonial tree planting on Arbor Day. More popular in Australia than other Empire countries, honour avenues to honour and represent fallen soldiers offered a fresh direction in the formation of the Australian landscape and an alternative commemorative form. Focusing on avenues of honour and groves in Western Australia established after both World Wars this paper examines their meaning in terms of their place in the landscape and their special significance to the communities that planted them.