TAS: Last Anzac honours first Tasmanian killed at Gallipoli

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TAS: Last Anzac honours first Tasmanian killed at Gallipoli

By Don Woolford

HOBART, April 24 AAP - The last Anzac, Alec Campbell, today honoured the first Tasmaniankilled at the Gallipoli landing.

In an Anzac Day eve ceremony, Mr Campbell unveiled a new plaque at the base of a Himalayancedar which was planted in 1918 to commemorate Private Arthur Adams, 22, who died duringthe first landings on the morning of April 25 1915.

Mr Campbell, who was only 16 when he managed to enlist in Launceston and did not getto Gallipoli until several months into the campaign, never knew Mr Adams, a Hobart labourerwho was 22 when he was killed.

The 103-year-old veteran, rugged up in a wheelchair, had to be helped to remove anAustralian flag from over the plaque. He didn't speak.

His wife Kathleen said his health was good, but his sight, hearing and short term memoryhad deteriorated.

While he knew the significance of what he was doing at the time, he would probablyforget in a few hours, she said.

The cedar, which is now sandwiched between a busy highway and a swimming complex, wasthe first of 511 planted as a soldiers' walk in 1918-19 to commemorate local men who fellin the Great War.

Over the years, some trees have died and others have made way for development. Mostof the plaques have disappeared.

However, Hobart City Council and Friends of Soldiers' Walk intend the rededicationof Adams' tree will be the start of a revitalisation program.

The short ceremony will be the start of a busy 24 hours for Mr Campbell.

Tomorrow he will take his usual honoured place at the front of the parade through Hobartto the Cenotaph.

Mrs Campbell said that unlike previous years, he won't repair to a nearby pub for apost-parade drink.

But a room has been set aside in the nursing home where he moved two months ago - andwhich is run by Jo Hardy, one of his 33 grandchildren - where friends can drop in fora beer.

He will also be taken on a lap of honour at North Hobart Oval before Tasmania's footballmatch against Frankston.

The teams will be playing for both VFL points and the Alec Campbell Anzac Cup.

Also on offer in the match is the Frank Macdonald Medal for best on ground.

Mr Macdonald, 106, who lives in Ulverstone on the northern Tasmanian coast, is Australia'slast surviving World War 1 veteran to have been decorated for bravery, a Military Medaland bar.

Ulverstone RSL secretary Robin Allan said Mr MacDonald would not take part in AnzacDay observances.

Although mentally sharp and in good health, his eyesight and hearing were poor.

Unlike Mr Campbell, an Anzac Day fixture, Mr Macdonald had never taken a great interestin the ceremonies, Mr Allan said.

AAP dw/ldj/bwl

KEYWORD: ANZAC TAS