Living tribute to the fallen

Family who lost brothers finds comfort in memorial trees

FAMILY ties ensure the Soldiers Memorial Avenue continues to resonate with Danielle Gray a century to the day after the first trees were planted there.

The first trees on the avenue on Queens Domain were planted in 1918 to honour the more than 500 Tasmanian soldiers, and one nurse, who were killed in World War I.

The Friends of Soldiers Memorial Avenue, in conjunction with the Hobart City Council, will today host a community event commemorating the first plantings 100 years ago.

Two of the sons of Ms Gray’s great-great grandparents, Private Victor John Gray and his younger brother Private Charles William Thomas Gray, were killed in France in 1917 within a week of each other. families,” Ms Gray said.

“I know that was the case for my great-great grandparents who lost their two sons, they would go there pretty regularly, making the trek down from Fern Tree.

“They could visit the trees if they had nothing else — the bodies were in France, and one didn’t have a grave at all.”

Ms Gray named her son Charles Victor John after his relatives, and expects the avenue to continue to resonate with her family for years to come.

“We go on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day and other times and take up flowers, and the kids know who they are and what the avenue represents,” she said.

Today’s ceremony will begin at 11am at the Soldiers Memorial Oval on the Queens Domain.