‘Tree of Life’ World War II memorial to be installed at Thompson Park in Greenbushes

A WA artist has generously donated one of their pieces to the Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes to honour the service personnel from the area who died while deployed abroad during World War II.

The artwork by John Green, titled Tree of Life, is a welded metal structure which will have individual leaves representing those who have fallen. The leaves will be made from metal tags attached to each branch in such a way so as to blow in the breeze.

The structure will include an eternal flame at the base of the tree meant to represent the life force extinguished for every leaf on the tree, which will need to be connected to an electricity supply.

Shire documents stated the piece was intended to be installed at Thompson Park near the Greenbushes War Memorial once several practical issues have been considered, including erection, maintenance, funding and safety implications, as noted in the Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes agenda from September 29.

Greenbushes returned and services league secretary Pat Scallan said the RSL was supportive of the proposed addition to the Greenbushes War Memorial.

“A lot of work was put into recognising the service personnel deployed during World War II.

“An art piece is a way of keeping something alive,” he said.

“It will be directly related to fallen soldiers and respects their contribution to their country.

Mr Scallan said he believes the art piece will be well received by the community and will be great for the next generation to continue to remember the contribution of those who have fallen while deployed.