Estate remembers the sacrifice of WWI soldier
A NEW Bell Post Hill housing estate is honouring the ultimate sacrifice of a young local farmer in World War I.
The estate, Hill 104, is named after the high ground above the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France where Private Karl Rollins’s sacrifice is honoured.
The residential estate’s main thoroughfare will be Karl St in honour of the soldier who was killed in action at Bullecourt on April 11, 1917, aged 24. He was a member of the 46th Infantry Battalion.
Newspaper casualty reports at the time state Pte Rollins was the only son of George and Agnes Rollins, of Lovely Banks.
Nearby Rollins Rd is thought by historians to honour the Rollins family from the Lovely Banks area.
Local historians wrote that Frank Rollins was prominent in the community during the World War I.
The same casualty report stated Frank’s son, Bert, was wounded, while Pte Rollins’s cousin, Percy, son of John Rollins, of Curlewis, had also been killed in action.
Newtown real estate agent Jason Barnett said sales for the first stage of the 3.8ha estate had recently launched.
“One hundred years on, we want to further honour Karl Rollins for his service and sacrifice,” Mr Barnett said.
“He has no known grave, and by naming Karl St, we give his memory an even stronger future in a suburban community close to where he once lived.
“Hill 104 is a fitting descriptor for the elevated site in Geelong’s north.
“The name is an opportunity to particularly honour local man Karl, but also those 10,885 Australians killed in France during the war, who have no known grave.”
The 3.8ha estate will be built on land between Bell Post Hill and the Geelong Ring Road.
It was sold by the Greater Geelong council for $1.4 million in 2015.
Lot sizes range from 429sq m to 927sq m. Prices start at $225,000.