Arch of Victory

The employees of E. Lucas and Co, (the Lucas Girls), having completed their tribute to the local soldiers with the Avenue of Honour, set about on work to provide a suitable entrance to The Avenue. After much planning and consultation the Arch of Victory was established. The combined cost of both the Avenue and Arch amounted to 4000 pounds. This money was raised by the girls themselves via many fund raising activities. As well, each of the girls donated 2d of every 1 pound of their wages towards the cost. The girls had the full support of E. Lucas and Co throughout the whole process of establishing the Avenue and the Arch.

The foundation stone for the Arch was laid on the 7th February 1920 by Gen W.R. Birdwood.  The Arch was officially opened by the Prince of Wales, Prince Edward on June 3rd 1920. This date  also commemorated the third anniversary of the first trees being planted in The Avenue. As their gift for opening the Arch, the Lucas Girls made the Prince a pair of pyjamas.

On 13th March 1938 the Temple of Remembrance was opened. This is situated to the left hand side of the Arch and to the beginning of the Avenue of Honour. The temple houses a Book of Remembrance which contains a number of steel sheets upon which have been inscribed the names of every person who has a tree in the avenue.

The Arch is 57 feet high and 64 feet wide. It is constructed of bricks and rendered cement.



Arch of Victory by Nigel Stevens

Avenue of Honour

Ballarat's Avenue of Honour is located along Ballarat- Burrumbeet Rd, now known as Remembrance Drive.  The Avenue consists of 3,332 trees  which are located on each side of the road and runs for a distance of 22 km.

The Avenue dates back to 1917  when a suggestion was made by Mrs E.W. (Tilly) Thompson, a Director of local clothing manufacturer E. Lucas & Co, to plant trees in honour of the men from the Ballarat region who enlisted in the AIF during the First World War.  This suggestion was enthusiastically taken up by the employees of E. Lucas & Co ( who at the time were known as the Lucas Girls). The girls had shown interest and activity early in the war by sending a Y.M.C.A. worker to the front and supporting him for over 3 years.

Not only did the girls raise the money for the trees but spent many of their weekends planting them. The planting took place between 3 June 1917 - 16 August 1919.  The trees were planted in order of enlistment. Around each tree a wooden guard was placed to protect the tree. Attached to each tree  was  a plate which provided space for the soldier's name and battalion.

In 1934 the original name plates, most of  which were missing or lost, were replaced with permanent bronze name plaques  which reside along The Avenue today.  The Arch of Victory Avenue of Honour Committee also at this time decided that no reference to any title or rank should be recorded on the new plaques, that only an initial and surname be recorded. Where known,  a cross was included on the plaque to indicate that the soldier had been killed in action.

The Avenue remains a lasting memorial to the men of the Ballarat region who volunteered to answer their nations call so long ago.