The creation of the movement to build the avenue has been attributed to Tilly Thompson, the director and executive officer of the Lucas Clothing Factory. The Ballarat Avenue of Honour was envisioned as a symbol that "will last for all time, and their children and children's children will be able to point out how their parents made history for Australia and the Empire". Such memorials to the living (not only those killed in action) are apparently unknown in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand. Popular writings suggest that the Ballarat Avenue of Honour was a catalyst for the planting of many similar avenues throughout Victoria, but records show that in 1917 the State Recruitment Committee of Victorian municipalities called for a planting of avenues of trees to represent all those serving in the war. Courtesy Federation University Historical Collection. The Ballarat Arch of Victory showing early plantings in the Ballarat Avenue of Honor, c1920.
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