News Reports and Activities About the Commemoration.
Date Set For Unveiling
By the Lions Club of Diggers Rest
The date set to unveil the Diggers Rest War Memorial is the 9th August 2015. This date is aligned to commemorate the Battle of Amiens in August 1918. The Battle of Amiens was the crucial Allied breakthrough counter-offensive, launched on the Western Front around Amiens, in the Somme sector. An "all arms battle", the Allies made effective use of infantry, artillery tanks and aircraft, which led to an unprecedented advance.
Diggers Rest’s fallen World War I soldiers fixed in time
By Sumeyya Ilanbey
17 March 2015
Diggers Rest’s fallen World War I soldiers will be commemorated with a new memorial.
The joint project of the Diggers Rest Lions Club and primary school will feature a two-metre-high, four-sided cenotaph and “teaching garden”.
Read more on the Melton and Moorabool Star Weekly
Diggers Rest war heroes to be memorialised in their home town
19 March 2015, Melton Leader Newspaper
By Ami Humpage
Diggers Rest’s war history will be forever remembered with a new memorial to be erected in the town.
A joint project between the Diggers Rest Lions Club and Diggers Rest Primary School, the project has been given the green light by Melton Council, which agreed at its meeting last Tuesday to allow the memorial to be erected on council-owned land at the Diggers Rest Recreation Reserve.
Read more on the Melton Leader Newspaper
The Rest We Forget - A Brief Story About Ernest Tate
By Andrew Tate (great nephew of E.J. Tate)
The AGE
25 April 2008
The AGE covered a story about on our Gallipoli soldiers, Ernest Tate in 2008. The article also covers the political sediment of that year.
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| Illustration: Dyson |
Read about it on The AGE
St Ives Donates $7,500 For War Monument
19 December 2014
St Ives Estate donated over $7,500 towards the commemoration of the Diggers Rest Anzac centenary. The property group generously handed the sponsorship funds to the Lions Club of Diggers Rest for the community project.
This is a huge boost for the local commemoration. The funds will cover the stonework and generates a lot of excitement for community to move ahead with marking the Anzac centenary anniversary.
St Ives is the first major private sponsor and has a real commitment to local history and community.
Find out more about St Ives Estate.
Planned war memorial to preserve history for the community
by Toby Prime
Melton Leader - 16 December 2014
IT IS hoped a Diggers Rest World War I memorial will be built in time for the 100year Anzac Day commemorations next year.
Construction of the memorial will start in the new year and will be built at the Diggers Rest Primary School.
Diggers Rest Lions Club member Rob Mackay said the memorial was the town’s most significant community project in a number of years.
The school and the Lions Club have just been approved funding for the project through the Federal Government’s Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program.
Mr Mackay said community groups and businesses were sponsoring or donating materials and labour.
“It is very positive for the whole township so it has been terrific,” Mr Mackay said.
Diggers Rest Primary School principal Rachelle Hedger said the memorial will be built on the school oval, subject to approval from landscapers and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Construction of the memorial will start in the new year and will be built at the Diggers Rest Primary School.
Diggers Rest Lions Club member Rob Mackay said the memorial was the town’s most significant community project in a number of years.
The school and the Lions Club have just been approved funding for the project through the Federal Government’s Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program.
Mr Mackay said community groups and businesses were sponsoring or donating materials and labour.
“It is very positive for the whole township so it has been terrific,” Mr Mackay said.
Diggers Rest Primary School principal Rachelle Hedger said the memorial will be built on the school oval, subject to approval from landscapers and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Mrs Hedger said the memorial was “incredibly important” for the community.
“We have a community that is steeped in history and it is important we preserve that history,” she said.
“It is essential to teach families and children to come together and observe important days, such as Anzac Day.”
Previously, Diggers Rest residents have had to travel to nearby Sunbury or Melton to observe Anzac Day.
Mrs Hedger said the school would also research the history of local Anzacs to try and track down any descendants of servicemen that may be living in the area.
“It is going to be a very special facility so the students can go there and learn a bit about the war,” she said.
Other wars may also be commemorated at the memorial in the future.
“We have a community that is steeped in history and it is important we preserve that history,” she said.
“It is essential to teach families and children to come together and observe important days, such as Anzac Day.”
Previously, Diggers Rest residents have had to travel to nearby Sunbury or Melton to observe Anzac Day.
Mrs Hedger said the school would also research the history of local Anzacs to try and track down any descendants of servicemen that may be living in the area.
“It is going to be a very special facility so the students can go there and learn a bit about the war,” she said.
Other wars may also be commemorated at the memorial in the future.
