"Weary" Dunlop

For the second time in the last three days, the rose has brought me undone but today it was totally unexpected. We had started to head home with Gundagai our objective tonight. We were looking for a nice place to have our picnic lunch when I saw the signs to Benalla. That's it, let's take a slight diversion and see if we can find a nice park to sit and have our lunch.

That we did, but what we couldn't have known was that it the park was a rose garden and in the garden was the most wonderful memorial to one of Australia's war heroes - Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop.. This was the inscription on the memorial.......

When despair and death reached out to us "Weary Dunlop" stood fast, a lighthouse of sanity in a universe of madness and suffering.

Around the base of the memorial were the following words....

Compassion, Leadership, Humility, Integrity, Friendship, Courage and Forgiveness.

We were deeply moved by the beauty of the sculpture and the magnificent rose gardens that embraced the statue.

I have added two images to my Blipfolio of the garden and also the "Weary Dunlop" Rose.

I encourage you to read the Wikepedia entry for this magnificent Australian Soldier and Surgeon.