Community & Business
20 February, 2025
Yungaburra memorial captured on film
YUNGABURRA’S Afghanistan Avenue of Honour is one of a select group of memorials from around the country to feature in the Australian War Memorial’s film, Place of Pride, shown last week to mark the opening of the national institution’s new south entrance.
The Avenue was one of 42 selected from the national Places of Pride Register of War Memorials, which lists some 12,000 memorial sites across Australia.
The film was show on a large screen on a loop at the new main entrance of the Australian War Memorial’s southern building expansion.
“Over 28 minutes, following an arc from dawn to dusk, ‘Places of Pride’ takes viewers on a journey around Australia, showcasing war memorials and commemorations of all kinds and the communities they serve,” Australian War Memorial director Matt Anderson said.
Alongside the film was an Interactive Map Screen where visitors could enter an Australian postcode to search for a memorial in that region.
The Yungaburra footage was taken in August last year, with members of the Cairns and Townsville chapters of the Patriots Australia Military Motorcycle Club providing some action at the picturesque site, while Friends of the Avenue formed a small party to join former serviceman John Hardy OAM at the memorial.
Speaking after the filming last year, spokesperson David “Robbo” Roberts said the bikers had travelled up from Cairns and Townsville for the shoot and had been invited by the War Memorial because of the Patriots’ long-time support and fund-raising efforts for the Avenue of Honour.
“It was lovely - very green, a beautiful morning,” he said.
“The boys rode up and down the Avenue and a drone was used to get some aerial shots. There was no fanfare, but it is always moving to be there.”
“Yungaburra’s Avenue of Honour joins stunning footage of local places of pride in cities and towns across Australia – from Thursday Island to communities in Tasmania, from Newcastle west to Broome, WA, and dozens of places in between,” Mr Anderson said.
The memorials range from monuments, cenotaphs, sculptures and shrines to avenues of honour, walking tracks, gardens, swimming pools and murals.
The Afghanistan Avenue of Honour was created following the funeral service for Afghanistan casualty Private Benjamin Chuck at Lake Tinaroo on 1 July 2010, at which more than 1000 people attended.
Later discussion of a “living avenue of trees” to represent every digger lost in the Afghanistan Campaign was taken up by Benjamin Chuck’s parents, Susan and Gordon, who began the push to build Australia’s first living memorial.
After an outstanding response from all levels of government, the Defence Force, state and regional RSL bodies, business and community groups and private and corporate sponsors, the Afghanistan Avenue of Honour was officially opened to a crowd of more than 5,000 people in 2012.
The film can be seen at the Australian War Memorial or online at placesofpride.awm.gov.au/film
