Uponn enlistment Ivo Reginald Parker was 21 years old, unmarried, and employed by Jelbart Bros. Foundry as an iron turner. He was born in Ballarat and enlisted from there on the 17th August 1914. On 15th September 1914 he was promoted to Sergeant Armourer. He was admitted to 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station on the beach at Anzac Cove with typhoid fever and later the term 'perforated leg' was added. He was evacuated to Egypt to the 1st Australian General Hospital, at Heliopolis in Egypt on 5th September 1915. There he was operated on for shrapnel in his stomach. His medical records identify his operation as a laparotomy – which is an operation that opens the abdominal cavity.

He disembarked in Melbourne and was admitted to 11th AGH – which was mostly a convalescent hospital. He was discharged from the AIF on medical grounds on 7th November 1916. Tree No. 5, an elm, was planted by Miss M Lee, a 'Lucas girl', on 4th June 1917.