25 April 1931   War Memorial

The War Memorial on North Terrace was officially unveiled on 25 April 1931 at the Anzac Day service. The architect, L. Laybourne Smith, described the memorial, made of Macclesfield marble in this way:

"The figure within the arch represents the spirit of Duty bearing in its hands a sword shaped as a cross, the symbol of battle and sacrifice. This figure is the vision seen by the group standing on the stage in front. This group, symbolical of the youth of the community, is represented as catching the first glimpse of the vision which appears above the altar of the shrine of sacrifice. Each member of the group - the student, the farmer and the girl -affected by the impulse, instinctively drops the emblems of craft and turns to the vision as it becomes clearer. The reverse side symbolises the attributes of womanhood - her tender maternal compassion, her sacrifice of son and lover and her power of resistance under strain."

The crypt is lined with bronze panels with the names of the dead of World War I and behind the Memorial is a curved wall with wooden crosses from the battlefields of the Great War in France. On 11 November 1956 a memorial to men who died in World War II was added to part of the wall.

The Advertiser, 22/25 April 1931.