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On 11 November 2003 Queen
Elizabeth II, together with Prime Ministers Howard and Blair dedicated
London’s long awaited Australian War Memorial at Hyde Park Corner.
To the north of Park Lane’s fashionable hotels lies Speaker’s Corner,
the very personification of free speech and democracy. To the south of
Park Lane is the ever busy Hyde Park Corner roundabout, its central grassy
area a pedestrian cross road for tourists, contains tributes to war heroes
who fought in support of that democracy.
| This grassy island is
the home of the red granite tribute to Arthur Wellesley, Duke of
Wellington hero of the Spanish and French Wars and of Waterloo, and
of his white Portland Stone triumphal arch looking down Constitution
Hill;
of the Royal Artillery monument to
their 49076 men who fell in the Great War. >>>
Close by the monument to The Rifle
Brigade and to Marshall Foch, the 1918 supreme commander of the
Western Front. |
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Surrounding it, to the
north lies Apsley House, Wellington’s home, known as Number One,
London and to the south the barbed wired crowned wall of Buckingham
Palace gardens. |
From Wellington’s
memorial the land falls away to the green Western Australian granite
monument which, from a distance, looks insignificant and innocuous. It is
only when standing close too that its significance, originality and
majesty is revealed.
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The plinth that bears
the introduction and information plaques. |
Town names randomly spaced and with irregular line spacing, are carved
white into the polished granite surface. Charters Towers and Caboolture
jumped out from the wall, but where were the Melbourne, Ballarat and
Elimbah that people sought as a point of empathy? An index of place names
is needed. Where the towns emphasise battle honours the names are double
width and whiter: Gallipoli, Passchendaele, Lone Pine, Normandy, North
Sea, Ruhr, Ypres, Somme, El Alamein, Messines, Ancres, Singapore, Mont St
Quinten, Atlantic, Okinawa, Tobruk, Villers Bretonneaux, Mediterranean,
Brallos Pass, Coral Sea …………………
The State wreaths were represented by ‘Elizabeth and Phillip, Buckingham
Place’; ‘Simon Crean, Leader of the Opposition’; ‘Chief of the
Defence Corps and Members of the Australian Defence Forces’; ‘Major
General Bill Crews AO (Retd) Returned and Services League of Australia’;
‘Tony Blair, 10 Downing Street’ – the only hand written card, the
ink of which had run in Thursday’s rain. To the left of The Queen’s
wreath was one which matched those from the Australian Government. Damaged
and without a dedication card it must be assumed to belong to Prime
Minister Howard.
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- This image shows how the letters of the towns
are made bold (as required) to spell out the names of the
battles.
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A constant flow of visitors, never less than fifty, passed in front of the
tributes: some showed the naivety of youth, others surprise – ‘Oh I
saw this on telly this week’, there were the knowledgeable and those
seeking some recognition of a lost relative: the single poppy crosses for
individuals, dedications to the 24th and 42nd Battalions of the 1st AIF
and a photograph of an twenty year old RAAF aircrew, who one night failed
to return.
The heavy traffic denies tranquility but the Australian War Memorial in
London has a worthy site.
15 November 2003
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THE |
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TIMES
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Wednesday November
12 2003 |
In London yesterday
straight-backed gentlemen in British warms and rows of medals saluted as
wreaths were laid at the war memorial unveiled at Hyde Park Corner. Solemn
tributes were paid to the bravery of those Aussie soldiers who stood
shoulder to shoulder with their British compatriots.
A greater sense of propriety prevailed at Hyde Park Corner where the
Queen, Tony Blair and John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia,
unveiled a memorial to Australian war dead finally built after more than
half a century of debate.
More than 61,000 Australian servicemen died in the First World War, and
40,000 in the Second. Although the country has its national war memorial
in Canberra, it was long felt that there should be another in London as so
many Anzac troops fought alongside British comrades. The Queen, in her
capacity as Queen of Australia, said that Australians had stood side by
side with the British during two of the ugliest wars in history. "The
forces of aggression were defeated, but the cost in human lives and misery
was enormous," she told dignitaries and guests, including 28
Australian veterans and war widows.
Mr. Howard spoke of the values "shared and cherished by Australia and
the United Kingdom". And said his country was tied to Britain by
victory, an enduring belief in human dignity and democracy. He reaffirmed
the enduring "bonds of friendship and respect between our two
nations".
The silence at the memorial was begun by the tolling of Big Ben and ended
by a fly past of RAF Jaguars from 57 Squadron (sic). The Queen, the
Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Kent laid wreaths, alongside floral
tributes from British and Australian political leaders. Built of
grey-green granite quarried in Western Australia, the memorial bearing
Australian battle names and the names of 24,000 home towns, villages and
suburbs of Australian service personnel is expected to become the focus
for London’s annual Anzac Day celebrations from next year.
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The
Daily Telegraph |
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Wednesday November
12 2003 |
The Queen marked Armistice
Day yesterday by paying homage to the Australian soldiers who gave their
lives fighting alongside the British in the First and Second World Wars.
Together with Tony Blaire and John Howard, the Australian Primer Minister,
she unveiled a £3 million memorial in Hyde Park, London, to the 102,000
Australians who died.
In her role as Queen of Australia, she led a 3,000 strong crowd, including
25 Australian war veterans who had flown to Britain for the event, in a
dedication service at the monument.
As Big Ben struck the 11th
hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the crowd joined the rest of the
country in two minutes' silence marking the 85 years since the guns fell
silent on the Western front.
The tribute was ended by an RAF fly-past of Jaguars from 54 Squadron (sic).
They were obscured by cloud.
The Queen said: "Twice in the space of a single generation Australia
and Britain stood side by side in two of the bloodiest wars in human
history. The struggle was bitter but by sheer resistance and dogged
courage the forces of tyranny were defeated but the cost in human life was
immense."
Mr. Howard said that the monument recognised the fallen who died in
"numbers still difficult to comprehend".
He added: "Whatever
the future may hold for our two nations we are tied for all times by our
history, our shared language and, most importantly of all, in the enduring
belief in human dignity and democratic freedom that should be the birth
right of all."
Mr. Blair said the bond between the two countries remained as strong as
ever, with military forces continuing to work together.
He added: "We have no
greater friend or ally in the Asia-Pacific region than Australia."
The grey-green granite memorial fashioned from stone quarried in Western
Australia, takes the form of a curved wall bearing the battle names of
both major conflicts. |
