by Cam Lucadou-Wells
A man and a woman in their 70’s were taken to hospital after their out-of-control vehicle destroyed Endeavour Hills’s War Memorial.
The Nissan 4WD skittled the marble cenotaph, wooden bollards and a park bench, turning the site into rubble about 3.30pm on 8 November – just days out from Remembrance Day.
The male front passenger was taken to The Alfred hospital with a rib injury, the female driver was taken to Dandenong Hospital with minor injuries.
Both were said to be in stable condition.
A witness said the 4WD was leaving the Endeavour Hills Shopping Centre car park’s deeply-potholed exit about 50 metres east of the memorial.
The car “T-boned” a city-bound vehicle on Heatherton Road, and then accelerated out of control across a gravel verge, mounting an embankment and 20 metres of lawn before striking the memorial, he said.
The other driver was not injured.
A “shocked” Dandenong RSL president John Wells said there was nothing left of the decade-old memorial.
The most important thing was that “the victims are OK”, he said.
“At the end of the day, people matter more. We can always rebuild the memorial.”
There had been no plans for a Remembrance Day service at the memorial, but it hosts an annual Anzac Day service for local schools.
“It’s an important memorial to us because Endeavour Hills had nothing, despite having military placements there during World War II.
“Our first thoughts are with the victims of the accident. Our second is how we can get a new memorial.”
