The St Mary’s School community planted its own living memorial to the Anzacs last week.
Members of the Romsey/Lancefield Returned and Services League were joined by more than 110 grandparents of the school’s pupils on Wednesday for the planting of a special oak tree.
Together, the attendees hand made poppies and wreaths, which were laid around the tree during a ceremony.
The Lancefield school is one of 600 primary schools taking part in the Victorian branch of the National Trust of Australia’s Gallipoli Oaks Project.
National Trust of Australia (Victoria) chief executive Simon Ambrose said at the core of the project was an Australian soldier who found some acorns while stationed at Gallipoli.
“Captain Winter Cooke remembered that his Uncle Samuel in Hamilton was a bit of a tree enthusiast; someone that would be interested in these rare acorns, and so sent a package of acorns to him from Gallipoli almost 100 years ago,” Mr Ambrose said.
“Schools will plant seedlings that are direct descendants of those acorns from Gallipoli, and in doing so, will have their own direct link to the environment that the soldiers endured during the campaign.”
