MANY times when MCG-bound in Adelaide Crows' AFL glory years, Frank Bernardi would pass by Ballarat's Arch of Victory . There was something about the impressive, commemorative monument - the largest in Australia - that stuck with the Adelaide singer-songwriter.
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He penned a song that will play for the first time before the Arch of Victory Anzac Day service, imagining a boy from Ballarat who died as a soldier in Gallipoli leaving his wife, daughter and unborn son to grieve by a tree planted in his name along the Avenue of Honour.
Arch of Victory and Avenue of Honour committee president Garry Snowden did some research and found a very similar story but the importance was in the sentiment.
Mr Snowden said in the 3801 trees and plaques along the Avenue of Honour there were 3801 stories from WWI of ordinary Ballarat men and women, who went to schools here and who growing up here could never have imagined the horrors they would soon face.
![South Australian singer-songwriter Frank Bernardi has written an Anzac-themed song inspired by Ballarat's Arch of Victory. The song will play before the commemorative service on Tuesday. Picture by Luke Hemer South Australian singer-songwriter Frank Bernardi has written an Anzac-themed song inspired by Ballarat's Arch of Victory. The song will play before the commemorative service on Tuesday. Picture by Luke Hemer](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XBHRDThPr8rZ8LC4FzPP7b/6bae31c4-fef9-4103-9733-677e0c5510b8.jpg/r948_255_4146_3137_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The Arch of Victory Anzac Day service will once again highlight a few of these stories. This year the service will remember 19 Ballarat men who returned home from WWI with wounds or illness that claimed their lives in the years soon after.
"We fall in the trap of assuming people return from war and carry on where they left off," Mr Snowden said.
"These 19 men's deaths have been attributed to their war service, but they died outside the time to be included on the national roll of honour."
![Paul Jenkins pauses to reflect in an Anzac Day service, by the Arch of Victory. Picture by Kate Healy Paul Jenkins pauses to reflect in an Anzac Day service, by the Arch of Victory. Picture by Kate Healy](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XBHRDThPr8rZ8LC4FzPP7b/2c432d43-a67e-4a61-bde7-162d875b13a0.JPG/r0_0_4928_3280_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mr Snowden said as a society we were better at recognising many veterans carry physical and mental wounds as a direct consequence of their service but this was not the case when these soldiers returned home.
He said in telling these stories, it was an important way to recognise the ongoing health issues these soliders had experienced from service.
These Ballarat men include: Francis Samuel Dean, George Pocock, David Arthur Wallace, Andrew Victor Sharp, Sydney Clues, Niven Alph Neyland, Thomas Francis Richards, Harry Clee, Victor John Todd, Herbert James Tuohill, Benjamin Thomas Cartledge, Henry James Whitefield, George Dyer, Harry Murfett, Herbert Rich, Leslie Albert Cleverley, William Horton Angwin, Hamilton Morrow and Oscar Trafford Dell.
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City of Ballarat this month started replacing 70 trees along the Avenue of Honour near Burrumbeet in a bid to continue the legacy.
Each tree has been deemed to be at the end of their life, in decline or to have structural issues.
The Arch of Victory Anzac Day service starts at 8am and concludes about 8.30am.
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