Hi Lists, I am pleased to announce a new addition to the Historic Plaques of the World Project. I received an invitation to visit Dr. Ross Bastiaan's Australian Bronze Commemorative Plaques Project (Website). This plaques project is to do with Australia's part in war and peace throughout the world. I will paste here (with permission) about Dr. Ross Bastiaan. You can access the site by going to my main url http://www.waynecook.com and click on The Historic Plaques of the World Project Directory. "Since 1990 Ross Bastiaan has privately and voluntarily placed over 100 large bronze commemorative plaques around the world recording Australia's amazing achievements in war and commitment to defending world peace. The plaques, many one-metre square and weighing over 8o kg are set in three tonnes of concrete. The plaques are often at the actual sites of Australia's finest military achievements. The Bastiaan plaques are usually designed with a central bas-relief map of the region as it exists today. On this map is superimposed the geographical features of the battle commemorated. For the visitor these maps assist orientation and a multilingual text, surrounding the map, outlines essential historical details. The plaques stand in 16 countries around the world including Turkey, Greece, England, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, Indonesia, France, Belgium, Australia, Israel, Egypt, Libya and Burma and record Australia's role in war from Gallipoli (1915) to the Gulf (1990). Ross Bastiaan was born in 1951 and is a full time periodontist in private practice in Melbourne. Alone he initiated the concept of the plaques after visiting Gallipoli in 1987 where he found almost no information about the battlefield for the English-speaking visitor. This lack of information gave birth to the "Plaques Project". Bastiaan has personally hand sculpted each bronze plaque and written a plain text, oriented to the layman and compiled from the Official Histories. The most difficult aspect of the project was the often-lengthy negotiations that Bastiaan conducted with foreign Governments to ensure that the plaques were acceptable for permanent placement on foreign soil. The plaques, collectively costing over a quarter of a million dollars, have been predominantly privately funded through private companies approached by the sculptor. These many companies share with him a pride in Australia's past and a desire to record the nations history for the future. The sculptor has installed the majority of the plaques himself. Ceremonial unveilings have often coincided with official Government commemorative pilgrimages and Governor-Generals, Prime Ministers and war veterans have performed such unveilings. The work behind these plaques has resulted in Bastiaan receiving the Medal of the Order of Australia, the Returned and Services League's (RSL) Anzac of the Year and appointment to the Council of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. The work on the plaques, over many years, has been a private commitment of one man to his country."   Regards Wayne Cook http://www.waynecook.com (A History Television Approved Site) and your host for the Simcoe County Genweb page at http://www.waynecook.com/simcoe.shtml Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada 1. HISTORIC PLAQUES OF ONTARIO 522 plaques Online, part of the Historic Plaques of the World Project, Provincial and State hosts needed 2. CANADIAN QUERY BOARDS http://www.waynecook.com/bulletin.html 3. HISTORY OF THE ESSEX SCOTTISH REGIMENT IN CANADA