The ANZAC Memorial (PHG\1076154)
The commemoration of ANZAC is ingrained in
the national memory of Australia and New Zealand. The ANZAC-mounted division participated
in the battle for Gaza in March 1917, which ended in failure. In October 1917,
ANZAC forces participated in the conquest of Beer Sheba. In March 1961,
delegates of The Jewish National Fund of Israel in Sydney, Australia, suggested
erecting a memorial site in Israel comprising a forest and a monument near the
border to the Gaza Strip to commemorate the ANZAC forces that fought in British
Mandate Palestine during the two World Wars. This memorial was supposed to
supplant the monument in Port Said, destroyed by the Egyptians in the wake of
the 1956 war.
Planting trees, groves, and forests as a Zionist
commemorative practice began at the beginning of the 20th century.
Alongside trees planted in memory of individuals, entire forests were planted
to commemorate notable leaders, e.g., Herzl Forest, Balfour Forest, the
Defender’s Forest (Yaar HaMeginim), and the Martyrs’ Forest (Yaar HaKdoshim). The planting of these
commemorative forests served as a way to combine afforestation,
memorialization, and fundraising. At the beginning of 1962, it was suggested that the ANZAC
troops be commemorated through an "ANZAC Memorial and Forest" as a
large-scale project. The location was to be next to a hill near Kibbutz
Be'eri, which oversees the city of Gaza and the Mediterranean and is positioned
south of the Ali-Muntar Hill that the ANZAC forces attacked in March 1917. The memorial
site was to be erected south of Simchoni Forest, which was planted in 1958 near
Kibbutz Kfar Aza in memory of Major General Asaf Simchoni and the fallen
soldiers of the 1956 campaign. Kibbutz Nahal Oz unsuccessfully petitioned
against the proposed plan to plant a forest there, arguing that the location would
impede the development of sheep or cattle husbandry in the Kibbutz.
"On a beautiful hill overlooking Gaza" -
correspondence regarding the first plans to plant the ANZAC Forest, 1962 (KKL5\25946)
A map of the ANZAC Memorial Forest area
near the Gaza Strip border, including the Israeli settlements in the area, the
1960s (KL20M\476\5)
The architect Yedidia Eisenstadt, who designed
many watch towers in JNF forests, planned the memorial. The memorial combines a
watch tower and a memorial structure in the shape of the letter A, the initial
letter of the word ANZAC. At the northern part of the memorial, there is a vantage
point shaped like a torch, offering a view of the surroundings. With its evident Australian
connection, the Eucalyptus Forest was meant to sprawl from west and south of
the Kibbutz and reach the Gaza Strip border, then under Egypt's control.
The plan was sent to Sydney and approved in 1965.
A plan for a memorial including an
observation tower, from a perspective view (KL20M\484\3)
The erection of the ANZAC Memorial and Forest kicked into high gear at the end of 1966. The JNF (KKL) in
Australia hoped this memorial project would promote the prestige of the foundation. In December of
that year, Harold Holt, then Prime Minister of Australia, decided to sponsor
the project in Israel. Shortly after Harold Holt passed away, a decision was
made to plant a grove in his memory at the ANZAC Forest. In February 1967, a
press release in Australia heralded the beginning of fundraising for a project that involved planting
100,000 eucalyptus trees in an area of 2500 acres. The JNF expected to raise $200,000:
$2 per tree.
A letter of gratitude by Harrold Holt,
Australian PM, to Levy Eshkol, Israel's PM, for erecting ANZAC Memorial and
forest, March 1967 (KKL5.29729)
The dedication ceremony was supposed to
take place in May 1967, and the site's inauguration was planned for April 1968, a day
before ANZAC Day. However, fundraising in Australia was delayed, and the
dedication ceremony was canceled in lieu of the tense situation in Israel. This
was the period immediately before the Six-Day War, and the Israeli Army ordered
the cancellation of the event due to the vicinity of the site to the Gaza
border.
ANZAC Memorial – an invitation to the
dedication ceremony (KKL5\30839)
An invitation to the ANZAC Memorial
dedication ceremony, “south of the Gaza Strip”, (KKL5\29729) planned for May 1967 but
was postponed due to security considerations.