I was invited to attend the unveiling of the restored statue honoring fallen Australian doctors who were deployed to battle fronts in World War I and World War II and were killed during their service. 41 names on the base are from World War I and 32 from World War II. My novel, Bombs Over the Bukubuk Tree’s protagonist is inspired by, though fictionalized from, a relative of mine whose name is inscribed on the base: H. N, Silverman (VX129333), Herbert Nathan Silverman. The statue resides in a small garden in the forecourt of the BMA-AMA’s offices at 293 Royal Parade, Melbourne.
The photograph of the statue is courtesy of another relative of Dr. Silverman, my cousin James Goldberg. He is a retired doctor and earned a M.A. degree in art history from the University of Melbourne. The angle he chose for his shot optimizes the viewers’ perspective of the soft creases in the soldier-patient’s pants and the dragging of his boot.
The sculptor was Charles Web Gilbert (1867-1925.) He created the sculpture after World War I, but it has been updated for World War II casualites. He was born in Tasmania and was a self-taught artist. Gilbert’s father died when he was only a few months old, his mother and siblings very poor. Although Charles went to a State school he started earning money from age 10. Coming to Melbourne, he cooked at a hotel, arranged scenes for events and soon turned to painting and scuplture. Eventually, in London, after exhibiting there, he joined the army as a military artist and sculptor.
Dr. Jean Douglas’s involvement with the statue’s restoration began at an ANZAC DAY (April 25) ceremony in 2016 at 293 Royal Parade. Deeply moved by the white wreaths at the statue’s base, she conceived the idea of contacting all the relatives she could find of these doctors who’d made the ultimate sacrifice, update and dociment the doctors’ biographies and improve the condition fo the statue and its environment. My first contact with Jean was in 2018. The unveiling ceremony was originally scheduled for 2021, but Covid ended that.
Serendipitously, it was re-scheduled for November 2023, a few months after I signed a contract with MadeGlobal Publishing to publish Beyond the Bukubuk Tree: A World War II Novel of Love and Loss.
I made new friends in Melbourne and Papua New Guinea. It was certainly the trip of a lifetime.
