THE tree that honoured young Ballarat soldier Martin Young stood tall and proud for many decades along Ballarat’s iconic Avenue of Honour. Planted in 1919 by Miss M. Wright, it withstood many a baking summer and chilly winter.
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But age wearied the poplar and it had to be removed due to ill health.
On Saturday, descendants of Martin Young planted a new tree along the avenue – a two-year-old English oak – which should last as long as his family’s memory of the 33-year-old machine gunner who enlisted in 1916 and eventually found himself in France in 1918.
Six members of Mr Young’s family helped dig in the oak tree for their ancestor: daughter-in-law Alice Young, grandsons Max, Greg, Chris and Roger, and great-grandson Liam.
The new tree, which was grown by Ballarat Specialist School, sits alongside that which honours Martin’s brother Leslie John (Jack) Young, within sight of the Burrumbeet racecourse.
Greg Young said he was honoured to play his part in planting the tree. “Anzac Day always means a lot to me. There is a sense of pride within the family. To consider what these boys did is very humbling.”
Martin Young’s tree was one of the last to be planted to complete the Ballarat Avenue of Honour ahead of Anzac Day.
He famously wrote a note to a sweetheart back home, placed it in a bottle and threw it into the Indian Ocean in 1916. In 1967, the bottle washed ashore south of Perth and the note was returned to its intended recipient Kate Rollason (nee Harris).
