Children from Coromandel Area School have once again been front and centre at a World War One Memorial Forest tree planting.

Students along with local RSA members and Thames-Coromandel District Council staff planted 39 totara trees, commemorating the 39 local soldiers killed in the Great War, at the Coromandel Hauraki Road WWI Memorial Forest site last Friday.

Students from Coromandel Area School took part in the last planting of the winter season as part of the World War One Memorial Forest project on Friday. Photo:TCDC

Coromandel Area School students have been actively involved in planting some of the 1,000 native trees already at the site.

Council says the site not only commemorates the fallen from Coromandel Town, but also represents ‘Supreme Sacrifice'.

'Trees in the Supreme Sacrifice Memorial Forest commemorate those who died in the war, but weren't killed in one of the major battles that are represented by one of our sites,” explains council.

'The Memorial Forest site is on council land by the Hauraki Rd wastewater treatment plant and there is now a mixed forest of totara, matai, puriri, kahikatea and horoeka (lancewood) growing there.”

Friday's planting was the last of the winter season and there are now seven sites across the Coromandel with trees planted and established:

• Coromandel Town - Supreme Sacrifice and the fallen from that area. More than 1,000 trees planted.
• Cathedral Cove - Gallipoli. 2,779 trees to be planted in total. 100 trees planted.
• The new Mercury Bay cemetery - the fallen from that area - 37 blessed for planting.
• Tairua's RSA cemetery - the fallen from Tairua-Hikuai. 48 trees planted.
• Pauanui, Tangitarori Lane reserve - the Sinai-Palestine campaign. 200 trees planted; 440 more in coming years.
• Whangamata - the Battle of Le Quesnoy. 122 trees planted.
• Thames - the fallen from that area. 247 trees planted at Rhodes Park.

Coromandel RSA member Kevin Stone and Coromandel Area School student Emily James hammering in a white cross naming one of the Coromandel soldiers who died in World War I. Photo: TCDC

CONTRIBUTE TO THE WWI MEMORIAL FOREST

The Memorial Forest is a unique initiative of the Thames-Coromandel District Council, working with local schools, RSAs, iwi, service clubs, Waikato Regional Council, the Department of Conservation and Wintec.

The district council is asking people to help the project by donating $100 to the cost of a tree or by joining in on the plantings, or both. Locals can also choose to donate $150 and plant the tree yourself.

There are three ways to donate:

1. Dedicate a tree to a specific soldier killed in the war. That tree gets planted in the Memorial Forest site dedicated to that particular battle or campaign. You will receive a memorial certificate which includes GPS co-ordinates of the donated.
2. You can dedicate a tree to the 'unknown soldier”. You will receive a memorial certificate which includes GPS co-ordinates of the donated.
3. You can gift a tree on behalf of your family without necessarily having a specific soldier in mind who was killed in the war. You'll receive a memorial certificate but no GPS location.

To donate a tree visit: www.tcdc.govt.nz/donatetree

There are also lots of opportunities to get involved and to do so contact Economic Development programme manager Ben Dunbar-Smith on 07 868 0200 or email: [email protected]

For more information on the New Zealand World War One Memorial Forest and all its sites across our District, see our project page www.tcdc.govt.nz/ww1memorialforest