The Anzac War Memorial in Sydney does not commemorate service people who died prior to 1885 and the start of WWI. Although the memorial only remembers soldiers who died after WWI it does commemorate each and every NSW service person that fought during WWI. The war memorial commemorating every NSW military volunteer from WWI with a gold star this creates a wall of remembrance that stretches right to the floor making people bow their heads. This shows that although the Anzac War Memorial does not “...honour and commemorate those men and women who have fallen for their country in all armed conflicts since Federation”, it does attempt it.
The Anzac War Memorial is the focus of remembrance ceremonies on Anzac Day, Armistice Day and other important occasions. This means that The War Memorial is Sydney's main commemorative military monument. A man watching the parade at Hyde Park said "A lot of our previous generation fought in the First World War, grandfather and both of his brothers, and I've always come here, I would miss this for the world and definitely not for a little rain" he said. This quote shows that many people head to Hyde Park on Anzac day no matter what the conditions are like, showing that the Anzac War Memorial in Hyde Park is Sydney’s main commemorative military building.
The main focus of the interior is a sculpture designed by Rayner Hoff it is of a deceased youth, representing a soldier, held aloft on his shield by three female figures, representing his mother, sister and wife. The sculpture is set low into the ground making views bow their heads as though they are in prayer. The male figure's nudity was considered shocking at the time of the monument's opening, and it is said to be the only such representation of a naked male form within any war memorial. The fact that the monument has such a sculpture that is unique makes it a significant place that many tourists and locals visit and remember those who have died for them in the past.
The exterior of the Sydney Anzac War Memorial in covered with carved granite relief panels and twenty monumental stone figural sculptures symbolising military personnel. The outside of the monument has a very eccentric appearance making it very hard for it to be missed. The colossal statues on the outside are bowed as if in prayer. The fact that these ‘soldiers’ are in prayer means that they are in sorrow and this makes people remember the sacrifice that service men and women have to make when they fight in any conflict over seas, that is their families homes and maybe even their lives.
Immediately to the north of The Anzac War Memorial in Sydney is a large rectangular “Lake of reflections” flanked by rows of poplars that have inscribed on them the many different conflicts Australian Service people have fought in. Originally plans called for the construction of similar pools on the other three sides of the building, but these were never built dew to a lack of funding. As people walk around these poplars they remember what has been done by those of the past to allow them to live as they do today. People realise the vast number of Australians that have been killed in overseas battles and how many conflicts Australia has actually been involved in.
In short the Anzac War Memorial does fulfil these requirements, “The aim of a war memorial is to honour and commemorate those men and women who have fallen for their country in all armed conflicts since Federation”. Although it only commemorates the fallen from the year 1885 it does have a star for every NSW Military volunteer from WWI. It is the focus of commemoration services in Sydney on Anzac Day, Armistice Day and other important occasions. The main focus of the interior is the monumental sculpture of a deceased solider. The exterior of the building is adorned with twenty huge stone figural statues symbolising different military personnel. To the North of the memorial there is a large rectangular “Lake of Reflections” that is flanked by a row of poplars. The Anzac War Memorial in Hyde
Park Sydney without doubt fulfils the aims of any war memorial.
Info gathered from picture found on (can be seen after bibliography)
Seen on (can be seen after bibliography)
