By MELISSA MEEHAN
IT WAS a day to remember, 100 years since the first Allied shot of the war and Montrose celebrated its link to that day.
It is believed Montrose resident Major Charles Morris ordered the first Allied shot of World War I to be fired from Point Nepean on 5 August 1914 as a German steamer attempted to escape from Australian waters.
But even that was disputed at Monbulk a century after the historic event on Tuesday, with some claiming it was a man from the navy who ordered the shot.
At a service, a plaque in Major Morris’s honour was unveiled as those present remembered.
Members of the Rotary Club of Montrose and Mount Evelyn RSL were instrumental in the day.
Brigadier Michael Phelps spoke of the lives lost and the meaning of war.
MP Tony Smith, as well as councillors Len Cox and Maria McCarthy attended to pay their respects, as students from the Montrose Primary School Choir sang the anthem.
The plaque was organised by the Rotary Club of Montrose in connection with the Centenary of Anzac.
