About seven months ago, Michael Whitehead (pictured) decided to research the names embossed on plaques that line Whittlesea’s Avenue of Honour.
The RSL member discovered that two of the 45 soldiers named were part of an August 7, 1915 offensive – the last major attempt by Allied forces at Gallipoli to break the stalemate that had persisted since April 25 that year.
He said the soldiers’ remains had never been recovered. “They deserve to be known,” Mr Whitehead said.
During the past month, Whittlesea council, with state government funding, has removed and restored all the city’s plaques and placed them in more prominent locations, each with space for flowers to be placed alongside.
Mr Whitehead, a military historian, mounted his standard-bred horse last week as the finishing touches were completed for the new plaques in Church Street.
