Mount Mee ANZAC War Memorial

About

The site, on the edge of escarpment, faces eastwards towards the sea and the rising sun. A Lone Pine-descendant Aleppo Pine is surrounded by a circular concrete border bearing five small service insignias - Navy, Army, Air Force, Merchant Navy and Womens' Services. The pine is fronted by a boulder carrying plaques, and a paved area for wreath laying. Two historic Second World War personal commemorative plaques, recovered from the Mt Mee school, are also incorporated in the paving. Behind the tree a large iron bark log (Eucalyptus crebra), under an open gable-roofed shelter, bears the Mt Mee Roll of Honour, for the First World War, Second World War, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam and East Timor. Two flagpoles are now mounted behind the position of the lectern on the edge of the escarpment, allowing the use of both ANZAC flags at future services. Construction of the memorial was a community effort, led by Neil Eiby OAM and a keen committee of locals. It began in 2008 with a Council-donated Aleppo pine. New Councillor Adrian Raedel loaned his boat mast as a flagpole for the service that year. Community fundraising with cake stalls and donations, together with volunteer labour, permitted development around the tree - centred on a locally sourced boulder. Council provided a permanent flagpole and contributed to the purchase of the plaques. This phase was completed and dedicated in April 2009. More recently the Queensland ANZAC Commemoration Committee helped to fund Roll of Honour plaques - now fixed to a narrow leafed iron bark log in recognition of Mount Mee's history of timber getting. Funding for materials for a shelter for the log was provided by the Queensland Government through its 2015 ANZAC Commemoration programme. The ANZAC Day service now attracts a strong following of visitors and locals - perhaps almost 1000 for the centenary service in 2015. It is a community driven, and it traditionally features a flyover by a formation of old warbirds. Additional Information The nearby Look-Out was opened by Council in 2002/3, and Neil Eiby OAM of the Woodford RSL Sub Branch conducted the first ANZAC Day service there in 2004.