War Memorials in Australia

Kalgoorlie War Memorial

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The memorial is a bronze statue of a World War I soldier at the on guard position on a column of Bulla Bulling granite. At the base of the column are four wings with marble lions on each.  Two ornate metal fences surround the memorial and there are flagpoles on the east west and south sides.

The following description is taken from The Kalgoorlie Miner of 22 October 1923.

Above the cap of the pedestal, the figure of an Australian soldier of heroic proportions as if he were taking part in an advance, commands the admiration of beholders.  This is cast in Italian bronze, the work having been done in Naples from a model sent over by Mr Peter Porcelli, the author of the accepted design for the monument.  The pedestal is of granite from Bulla Bulling, quarried and cut by the sub-contractors Baker and Mathews. The whole conception reflects the highest credit upon Mr Porcelli, who was responsible for the erection of the memorial from start to finish.

The proceedings yesterday were of a striking character.  The figure was draped with two large flags - the Union Jack and the Australian flag.  To the right of the monument there was galleried seating accommodation for school children, who were marched under charge of their teachers to the rendezvous.  To the left there was the platform for the speakers and other notable persons, and still further to the left was the gallery for the choir, in front of whom the 16th Battalion Brass Band was stationed.  Opposite the monument, chairs were placed for the mothers, widows and sisters of fallen soldiers.  The occupants could easily be distinguished because of the note of purple that was introduced into their dressing.  Prior to the arrival of the military procession, the square in front of the monument was formed by the boy scouts under Captain Fairley of the W.A. Division.  The military forces taking part were commanded by Lt.-Col. Rock.  The citizen soldiers, the returned soldiers, the veterans and the senior cadets formed up opposite the Soldiers' Institute, Dugan Street and headed by the 16th Battalion Band, marched along Maritana, Hannan and Wilson Streets to their destination.

There, they were disposed of in such a manner as to form the side of a square in order to prevent the crowd from unduly pressing forward.  Outside the square, the public gathered in great numbers.  There were so many people that they overflowed into Forrest Street.  They waited patiently for the beginning of the ceremony.  Meanwhile the 16th Battalion Band played a couple of appropriate musical compositions.  The platform was so placed that the speakers faced the crowd in the rectangular space in front of the railway station where the Union Jack was flying at half-mast in token of respect for the day.

Among those present were:- The Mayor (Mr F. W. Allsop) and Town Clerk (Mr. C. E. Eccles) of Kalgoorlie, the Premier, (Sir James Mitchell), the Minister for Mines and Railways (Mr J. Scaddan MLA), the Minister for Agriculture (Mr Maley MLA), the speaker (Mr. George Taylor MLA). the Leader of the Opposition (Mr P. Collier MLA), the Bishop of Kalgoorlie (Right Rev. E. Elsey), Major-General Sir Talbot Hobbs, Brigadier-General Bessell-Browne, Messrs J. W. Kirwan, R. G. Ardagh, E. H. Harris, H. Seddon, Gray and Potter M.L.C., Messrs J. Cunningham, S. Munsie, Heron Corboy, Lutey, Angwin, Mullany, Mann, Davies, Gibson, J. Smith, A. A. Wilson, Durack, Angelo, Marshall, McCallum, W. Richardson, and Colonel Denton, M's L. A. Colonel Chaplin Collick, Rev. Joseph Green, Rev. A, H, Ballinger, Rev. Lincoln Sullivan, the Mayor of Boulder (Mr G. H. Rainsford), the Chairman of the Kalgoorlie Roads Board (Mr G. A. Holmes), Mr C. J. Moran and many councillors of Kalgoorlie and Boulder.

The choir, conducted by Mr William Phoenix and assisted by the 16th Battalion Band, led the singing of the hymn "Oh God Our Help in Ages Past".

The Mayor (Mr F. W. Allsop) said:- "We have assembled here this afternoon to unveil the memorial erected by the citizens of Kalgoorlie in commemoration of our Goldfields lads who lost their lives fighting for their country and Empire in the Great War.  We feel honoured that we are privileged to pay this token of  respect to our glorious dead; for it is due to the courage and heroism of our troops that we can assemble here this afternoon a free and unconquered people, and whilst we rejoice in our freedom, this memorial will remind us that it has been bought with a price and that many of our brave goldfields lads have found their last resting place in Gallipoli and France.  Our sincerest sympathy is extended to all the bereaved ones; for those who have suffered the loss realise that neither the glamour of battle, the shouts of victory, nor the raising of any memorial can compensate the sorrowing heart for the loss of loved ones.

Sixty thousand of Australia's best lost their lives through the World War.  We have erected this memorial not merely as so much granite or so much bronze, or not alone for its artistic value; we have erected it as a memento, as an expression of our love and gratitude to those that have done so much for us.  This memorial will remind us that, to the Motherland of England in her hour of greatest need, came her sons to help the homeland, Patriots true in word and deed.

This memorial will cause us to hold up our heads in conscious pride, for we know that our sons were not the sons of a decadent or degenerate race, but that they were able to hold their own when fighting alongside of the best troops in the world.  Their bravery was unquestioned.  They knew how to die the death of heroes, and in every way they upheld the highest and most glorious traditions and prestige of the British race, the race from which we sprang.

In conclusion, allow me to remind you that the war was not of our choosing.  We were compelled to fight, or lose our national existence.  When we think of the horrors of war and when we view this memorial, with its associations of sorrow and suffering, many will long for the time when war shall be no more, and when the teachings of the Prince of Peace shall so fill and attune the hearts of men and so exalt nations that right not might, shall prevail and the universal song shall resound --- "Peace on earth and good will towards all men".

In silence, Major-General Sir Talbot Hobbs performed the ceremony of unveiling.  The choir, the band and the assemblage then took part in the singing of the National Anthem.  The bugle sounded "The Last Post" and "Reveille" which were followed by the firing of three rounds by the guard.

Colonel-Chaplain E. M. Collick recited the prayer for the dedication of the memorial as follows:-  "O Almighty and Eternal God, who didst inspire the hearts of men to offer themselves at the call of duty and didst give to them courage and endurance to face suffering, danger and death, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to accept this memorial, which we now dedicate in loving memory of the men from the district, who, by their self-sacrifice and death, saved their fellowmen from the dangers which threatened them during the Great War".

The Bishop of Kalgoorlie (Right Rev. Edward Elsey) delivered an address, in the course of which he said it was impossible not to feel a thrill of pride and of gratitude to those men in whose honour the memorial was being unveiled that day.  He was not, however, going to speak of the pride they felt.  There were those who had a fuller knowledge than himself, for he had not had the privilege at the front of helping those who needed the comfort of religion or were passing through the pains and dangers of death.  It had fell to his lot to break sad news to the dear ones and relatives at home and speak to them words of comfort and of hope from our religion.  No feeling of pride could assuage the grief of those who had lost their loved ones in war.

The Lord Jesus Christ, who sympathises with them in their sorrow, bade them to look upon death from a new point of view.  Death was not an end to all things.  It was not as the snuffing of a candle that was burned out and finished.  They entered into a newer and better form of life.  In the life beyond they were living a truer and nobler life than was possible for them to live here.

The Bishop referred to a story of the rich man and Lazarus, wherein the former had asked Father Abraham to communicate with his five brothers and warn them not to follow his example on earth lest they should suffer torments in the after-life.  Surely they had led a conscious life on the other side of the grave and they saw and prayed for us so that we should learn the lesson as it had been revealed to them - the lesson of sacrifice.

Jesus Christ has said that greater love hath no man to lay down his life for his friend.  The departed were praying that we should learn the lesson of self-sacrifice on behalf of our friends.  The Bishop concluded by reciting the appointed prayer.

The ceremony at this stage was a touching one.  The choir sang the well-known hymn, "Lest We Forget", while people came forward with wreaths and other floral tributes and placed them at the foot of the monument.  Many of these silent tokens of love for the memory of departed soldiers were piled up.  The Rev. Joseph Green (Methodist) read the comforting prayer for the widows, orphans and other bereaved relatives of the fallen soldiers.

Major-General Hobbs made a lengthy address.  He said he deeply appreciated the great honour that had been done him in asking him to unveil the monument that afternoon.  It was not the first occasion upon which he had the honour of performing a similar ceremony.  Two years ago he had unveiled the monument at Boulder.

The figure in the Kalgoorlie monument showed the Australian soldier at his best.  It was typical of him in the attack.  The record of the goldfields soldiers was second to none in the State, nor in Australia.  They had the qualities of enterprise, daring and endurance which had developed the goldfields region.  They were men who were prepared to make a sacrifice when called upon to do so.  They were the men who made the invincible soldiers of Gallipoli, Pozieres and Bullecourt, and were foremost in the days of 1918 during the glorious 100 days when Australia's soldiers broke through the German lines and gave the Germans a shock from which they never recovered.  The knowledge of mining these goldfields soldiers had acquired was of immense value in Gallipoli for they were able to countermine and beat the Turk at his own game.  These mining men had done signal service at Messines, with their skill and knowledge, for they were able to strike terror into the Boche by blowing up a gap and making a way for the Fourth Army to inflict one of the most terrible blows the enemy had suffered during the great war.  This monument was a tribute to the sacrifices these men had made.  It ought to inspire others to make similar sacrifices if necessary.  This and similar monuments should remind the people of their responsibility, not only to to this State but also to Australia and the British Empire.

Many people had been content to believe that the British Navy could protect Australia.  Isolation might once have been a protection for Australia but nowadays that isolation was one of her chief dangers.  The British navy was no longer superior in ships to other powers.  Possibly the scene of a struggle would be shifted from the North Sea to the Pacific.  In the event of war Australia must rely for many days upon her own resources before help and munitions would be forthcoming from elsewhere.  There were people who said war was not likely, for the workers would refuse to allow it.  The events of Angora showed that Turkey was able to defy the Allies and regain a lot of what had been taken from her.  The League of Nations had not been able to restrain Italy, who had shot down innocent people and if the nation she had attacked had been in the position to retaliate, other nations might not have been involved in a terrible war.

Members of families quarrelled; villages, towns and countries quarrelled; and until man's nature changed, there would be wars.  History repeated itself and friendly nations today might be the bitterest of enemies tomorrow.

Australia had either to be part of the British Empire or stand alone.  If she were part, then she must act with any part of the Empire that was engaged in war.  He was not a militarist - he had seen to much of the horrors of war to be one.  He felt however, that he must consider his duty to his country and his fallen comrades.  If they were to be men they must be prepared to pay for the defence of their country for the benefit of their children and future generations, and for the salvation of the land from which they sprang.

Sir Talbot made fitting allusion to his sympathy with the bereaved relatives of fallen soldiers and eulogised the courageous spirit that had carried the Australians through times of great suffering and hardship.

The hymn "Now the Labourer's Task is O'er" was sung.

Brigadier-General Bessell-Browne spoke of his recollections of the 11th Battalion, A.I.F. mainly composed of Goldfields men, whom he had seen at Blackboy Hill and in Egypt and elsewhere.  They were men who were unequalled by the soldiers of any other nation in the world.  He dwelt upon the deeds of Australian soldiers, especially when on different occasions they met and defeated the Prussian Guards, the flower of the German army.  He believed the memory of the 60,000 men who had made the supreme sacrifice would live in the minds of the Australian people for evermore.

The Premier (Sir James Mitchell) in handing over the memorial to the keeping of the mayor and his successors in office, emphasised his viewpoint that Australia must be prepared to defend herself, for the British navy could not adequately protect this continent.  It was the duty of every public man to voice that fact.  Australia must be prepared for war.  She could not defend herself with her sparse population of five and a half million people, and if we would hold Australia we must people it.  He congratulated the goldfields people for acquiring this beautiful monument.

The Mayor accepted the trust on behalf of himself and successors in office.

The choir sang "And the Glory of the Lord" and the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's "Messiah".  The first verse of the National Anthem was sung by the assemblage. led by the band.

The citizens forces, the veterans, the returned soldiers and the senior cadets reformed in procession and marched some distance down Wilson Street, where they were dismissed.