Bid to move Lilydale memorial
Bryan Allchin
12May08
Lilydale historian Anthony McAleer wants this Lilydale war memorial moved to Melba Park so more can enjoy the popular Anzac Day service. Picture: STEVE TANNER
GROWING crowds and a continuing surge of community interest in Anzac Day has prompted one local historian to propose moving Lilydale's war memorial.
Mt Evelyn resident Anthony McAleer said this year's dawn service, attended by more than 1000 people, demonstrated the present location of the cenotaph in Main St was becoming increasingly problematic.
"The RSL do a fantastic dawn service, but the space they have is not sufficient to allow everyone to see and hear what is going on," he said.
Mr McAleer said the logical location for a relocated war memorial would be Melba Park.
"There is a natural amphitheatre in Melba Park, near the Athenaeum Theatre," he said.
"It would still be a prominent part of the community, because the park is well used."
Mr McAleer, who has researched and published three books on the area's military history, said the memorial would be well suited to the park because of a 107-year-old English oak commemorating a Boer War battle, honour rolls in the theatre and the use of the park by the civil defence corps in World War II.
Lilydale RSL sub-branch president Eric Dosser said the issue had previously been discussed and moving the memorial had been ruled out.
"The world has moved on a little since this was last discussed," he said.
"It is not something we would enter into at the drop of a hat.
"It is something that would require extensive input from the community and the services community and it will take big dollars to do."
Mr Dosser said the RSL was aware of problems experienced by some members in the crowd at Lilydale on Anzac Day, and was working to resolve the issues.
Mr Dosser said members of the public wanting to comment on moving the memorial, or those offering feedback, could do so by writing to P.O. Box 88, Lilydale, 3140.
Letter to the editor
By Anthony McALeer
Over the past 15 years Lilydale has witnessed ever increasing numbers turn up to its annual dawn service. This year was a record with organisers estimating 500-600 people present. At the time that the Lilydale War Memorial was unveiled in 1922 Anzac Day’s were almost exclusively a day for veterans to get together. Those who developed the small strip of land it now stands on (which today is half of its original size) never envisioned the numbers we get today for services and ceremonies, in fact they would be immensely proud.
As a result the Lilydale community has out grown this space. Only a quarter of the crowd this year could see what was happening around the Cenotaph and with audio problems also occurring even less could hear what was going on.
If the youth who attended can not see or hear the service, how can they really appreciate its meaning? What are they going to learn from standing in the cold for 45 minutes looking at the backs of those in front of them? Are they going to want to return next year? Isn’t it the youth of this nation who we want to understand and appreciate the sacrifices of those have gone before them?
Those families who made the effort to get themselves and their children up at such an early hour, not an easy job by any means, deserve better. The RSL, especially Eric Dosser, have created a moving and meaningful ceremony that those who are able to see what is going on fully appreciate. The RSL are also being let down by the lack of space available here. There would be many members, and in fact many veterans, who would have been in the same boat as most of the general public.
Add to that the noise from the traffic, especially trucks, that disturb the service. The police and the SES do a terrific job halting the traffic going by at this time, not the most ideal situation, but problems still occur. This year the first part of the service was disrupted by the loud beeping noise of a truck backing up. In previous years there was an incident where a thief in a stolen car thought the police were stopping him and he ran into the crowd, frightening and knocking people over and even injuring a veteran. In fact the police and SES should not have to be stopping traffic, they should be attending the service.
The time has obviously come to rethink the War Memorial’s location and there is nowhere better in the centre of Lilydale than ‘Melba Park’.
This park land has the space, at the moment there is even a grassy amphitheatre, it is visited throughout the year by more residents and families than the Main St reserve and it has military heritage value.
It is named after Dame Nellie Melba, a person who was awarded her title for the work she did raising funds for the Red Cross during World War One, it is home to the ‘Mafeking Tree’, a Boer War memorial that is probably one of the oldest and longest remaining war memorials in Victoria and during World War Two the park hosted a training camp for members of the 3rd Battalion of the ‘Volunteer Defence Corps’. It is also behind the ‘Athenaeum Theatre’ a building that is a local icon and that has witnessed farewell ceremonies for local soldiers from the Boer War through to the Korean War, many whose names are listed on the war memorial. It was a drill hall for local militia units and the scene of the majority of patriotic welfare work during war time. It also houses the impressive Shire of Lillydale World War One & World War Two Honour Boards. In years gone by the theatre has opened its doors for Anzac Day for visitors to view these boards but few have taken up the offer because of its distance from the Cenotaph ceremony. Future Anzac Day ceremonies at ‘Melba Park’ could include these boards and the ‘Mafeking Tree’. Oh and a note to organisers: you may find it easier to plug into the Athenaeum’s power source for your amplifiers than what you have in Main St.
The time has now come for the community to get together with the RSL to form a committee to come up with a plan to create a ‘War Memorial’ reserve that both groups will benefit from and which will help to continue to make Anzac Day our true national day.
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