Driving to and from Canberra you will notice signs along the Hume and Federal Highways declaring it to be the Remembrance Driveway, an honouring of those who have served in the Australian Defence Forces. It was commenced in 1954 by the planting of trees in Macquarie Place, Sydney by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. Originally conceived as the establishment of groves of native trees (including that beautiful stand of gums at Bass Hill) as symbols of hope for the future, in the 1990’s it was expanded to include Victoria Cross Rest Areas and Memorial Parks.
One such rest area name, Kevin Wheatley VC, remains familiar to me from when I first read of his being awarded the Victoria Cross. I was a lad at the time and I remember being both moved and awed by the manner of his passing. That feeling persists to this day - “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13).
