War Memorials in Australia
Australian War Memorial
Place:
Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, 2612
District:
Southern Tablelands
(ACT)
Orientation: Suburb of Canberra
Location: Top of Anzac Parade
Position: 35 15 35 S 149 08 89 E
Ref: 00001
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The Australian War Memorial sits at the foot of Mt Ainslie in Canberra. It is an uniquely Australian setting with eucalypts on Mt Ainslie, in the lawns surrounding the memorial and along Anzac Parade, a wide ceremonial avenue leading to Lake Burley Griffin. From the memorial there is an uninterrupted view along Anzac Parade and across the lake to Parliament House.
The Memorial's presence in Australia's national capital forms the core of the nation's tribute to the men and women who served their country in time of war. Charles Bean, Australia's official historian of World War I, was instrumental in persuading the Commonwealth Government to commit itself to an Australian War Museum which it did in October 1917. Bean spent several months after the war collecting artefacts for the collection. The concept of a war museum evolved into that of a war memorial and Bean wrote, 'the conception of that memorial is that it should impress the visitor with the feeling: here is their spirit, in the heart of the land they loved; and here we guard the record which they themselves made.' Pericles' speech over the dead warriors of Athens was used to epitomise the purpose of the War Memorial and for many years the text was printed on the Memorial's stationery. ' They gave their lives. For that public gift they receive a praise which never ages and a tomb most glorious - not so much the tomb in which they lie, but that in which their fame survives, to be remembered for ever when occasion comes for word and deed'.
In 1925 enabling legislation was passed to establish the Australian War Memorial. A design competition was held but none of the submissions met the requirements for a Hall of Memory large enough to record the names of the dead within a specified cost limit. Two of the competitors, John Crust and Emil Sodersteen, were asked to incorporate their ideas into a collaborative design which would see a classical building with names recorded on the walls of the cloisters. The Governor-General, Lord Stonehaven, unveiled a commemorative stone on the site on Anzac Day 1929. Construction began in 1933 and it was opened to the public on Remembrance Day, 11 November 1941. It was not officially dedicated until 31 March 1971.
The building performs a number of functions - it is a shrine of remembrance, a museum, a centre for research and a keeping-place of records and artefacts. The central court is open to the sky and holds the Pool of Reflection and, at its head, the Flame of Remembrance. In the alcoves on either side of the central area, 102,000 names of the fallen are recorded on bronze panels. The focus of the memorial, beyond the Pool, is the Hall of Memory with its distinctive copper-sheathed dome. Within the Hall of Memory is an official war grave and national shrine containing the remains of an unidentified soldier who died on the battlefields of the Western Front in World War I. The Unknown Australian Soldier was brought home and entombed in the Memorial on 11 November 1993.
The wings and rear section of the main building house some twenty galleries of exhibits depicting the Australian experience of war with an emphasis on individual and personal experiences of those involved. Collections of relics, machinery, weapons, personal and public records, dioramas, photographs and artworks are used to demonstrate the achievements and sacrifice of Australians serving at home and overseas from the time of the Sudan War to the present. In 1996 the galleries were restructured into five different periods: Colonial conflicts 1788 - 1901; World War I; World War II; Korean and South-East Asian wars 1950 - 1972; and United Nations and other peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations. Currently under construction at the rear of the building, Anzac Hall will house larger exhibits such as the Japanese submarine which attacked Sydney Harbour during World War II.
The Stone of Remembrance in the ceremonial area in front of the main building is the focus for wreath laying and remembrance ceremonies on ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day and other occasions.
The Memorial plays an important role in understanding what it is historically to be an Australian.
Memorial stone in Sculpture Garden, west side of main building
North face
AUSTRALIAN
WAR
MEMORIAL
INCEPTION MAY 1917
East face
INAUGURATION
ANZAC DAY
1929
South face
DEDICATION
31 MARCH 1971
West face
OPENING
ARMISTICE DAY
IN NOVEMBER 1941
Stone of
Remembrance at front of building
Inscription on north face and on south face
THEIR NAME LIVETH
FOR EVERMORE
Information current to October 2000
Sources: Inglis, K. S., Sacred Places - War
Memorials in the Australian Landscape, Melbourne University Press, Carlton South,
1999
The Memorials of Anzac Parade, pamphlet produced by the National Capital
Authority, Canberra, undated
Canberra Times, 3
December, 1994
Canberra Times, 3 October, 1996