Denny
8th April 2006, 04:51
I found this article in an Australian motoring magazin (RACV Royal Auto) - it's about a Melbournian dentist Dr. Ross Bastiaan who invested a great deal of his time and money designing and installing plagues commemorating Australians who have served at war.
"From South Africa to Gallipoli, Flanders Fields to the Kokoda Trail, more than 160 plaques tell the stories of those who did battle in the Australian forces. There are Bastiaan plaques in London, Canberra, Balikpapan in Borneo, Tobruk and Singhapore... just about everywhere Australians have fought."
In Melbourne the best known work is the design surrounding the city's best loved statue of Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop, hero of the Burma-Thailand railway in WW2 and the plagues telling the stories of courage and stamina of soldiers fighting Japanese forces in Papua new Guinea along the Kokoda Trail. These plaques are placed along the 1000 steps in the Dandenong Ranges, Ferntree Gully.
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His latest series of plaques are being placed along The Great Ocean Road, one of Australia's foremost destinations. The Great Ocean Road was built as a living memorial to Australians who served in WW1, with funds raised through the Returned Service League and local communities.
Diggers from Gallipoli and others battelfields became diggers in a vast peacetime pick-and-shovel operation, with hundereds of returned soldiers slowly forcing a road around the rugged cliffs.
"People come from around the world to drive along this road", says Dr. Bastiaan. "I think it would be a crying shame if they did not know how returned troops built it."
More than two decades of work and maybe AU$100,000 of his own money have gone into his labor of love, and his rewards have included the OAM for service to Australian military history, the RSL's Anzac of the Year honour and life membership, the Advance Australia Award and the Commenwealth Centenary.
"I've been described as obssesive and a nutter", says Dr. Bastiaan. "That's not the way I see it - I am just determined to follow this concept through wherever I think it's appropriate... When you walk through war cementeries and you see thousands of graves, you know you're walking on some very important places... My real reward is knowing I've contributed to the memory of people who did a lot for Australia and the world. Whatever I've done is all worthwhile when I reflect that every day someone somewhere finds one of the plaques.".
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Thank you,
Denny
"From South Africa to Gallipoli, Flanders Fields to the Kokoda Trail, more than 160 plaques tell the stories of those who did battle in the Australian forces. There are Bastiaan plaques in London, Canberra, Balikpapan in Borneo, Tobruk and Singhapore... just about everywhere Australians have fought."
In Melbourne the best known work is the design surrounding the city's best loved statue of Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop, hero of the Burma-Thailand railway in WW2 and the plagues telling the stories of courage and stamina of soldiers fighting Japanese forces in Papua new Guinea along the Kokoda Trail. These plaques are placed along the 1000 steps in the Dandenong Ranges, Ferntree Gully.
[Only registered and activated users can see links]
His latest series of plaques are being placed along The Great Ocean Road, one of Australia's foremost destinations. The Great Ocean Road was built as a living memorial to Australians who served in WW1, with funds raised through the Returned Service League and local communities.
Diggers from Gallipoli and others battelfields became diggers in a vast peacetime pick-and-shovel operation, with hundereds of returned soldiers slowly forcing a road around the rugged cliffs.
"People come from around the world to drive along this road", says Dr. Bastiaan. "I think it would be a crying shame if they did not know how returned troops built it."
More than two decades of work and maybe AU$100,000 of his own money have gone into his labor of love, and his rewards have included the OAM for service to Australian military history, the RSL's Anzac of the Year honour and life membership, the Advance Australia Award and the Commenwealth Centenary.
"I've been described as obssesive and a nutter", says Dr. Bastiaan. "That's not the way I see it - I am just determined to follow this concept through wherever I think it's appropriate... When you walk through war cementeries and you see thousands of graves, you know you're walking on some very important places... My real reward is knowing I've contributed to the memory of people who did a lot for Australia and the world. Whatever I've done is all worthwhile when I reflect that every day someone somewhere finds one of the plaques.".
[Only registered and activated users can see links]
Thank you,
Denny