Private Lawrence (Len) Ridgewell Memorial Tree, Manilla

About

The memorial is a pine tree, surrounded by a fence and accompanied by a plaque. The dedication is to Private Lawrence (Len) Ridgewell, who served in the Second World War, and also to all servicepeople. The tree is located close to the Manilla General Cemetery Wall of Remembrance, on the western side of the cemetery grounds. Ridgewell was born on 21 January 1912 to Walter John and Eliza Rebecca in Bellata, NSW. He left Manilla in early 1939, after six years residence in Barraba, for Nowra on the South Coast, NSW. In Barraba, he was a member of the Rifle Club and the Fire Brigade.  He enlisted on 9 November 1939 at Wollongong, NSW. On 14 November, the Manilla Express reported he had joined the 2/3rd Battalion. He sailed for overseas in January 1940 and took part in the Libyan and Greece Campaigns. He was invalided there and discharged from the Army on 20 November 1941. He returned to Manilla, and on 23 January 1942 the Manilla Express reported he had obtained the license for the town's Post Office. Ridgewell died in 1976 and is buried in the cemetery. The plaque identifies him as a 'Thirty-Niner'. These were men who were members of the militia, the Royal Australian Navy or the Royal Australian Air Force Reserves when the Second World War broke out.