Goondiwindi War Memorial

Goondiwindi War Memorial
Goondiwindi War Memorial
	War Memorial Gates, 2009
Location	Marshall Street, Goondiwindi, Goondiwindi Region, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates	28°32′46″S150°18′09″E / 28.546°S 150.3026°E Coordinates: 28°32′46″S150°18′09″E / 28.546°S 150.3026°E
Design period	1919 - 1930s (interwar period)
Built	1922, 1949
Queensland Heritage Register
	Official name: Goondiwindi War Memorial, Memorial Gates, The Soldiers' Memorial (Digger Statue)
Type	state heritage (built, landscape)
Designated	21 October 1992
Reference no.	600532
Significant period	1922- (social); 1922-1949 (historical, fabric)
Significant components	memorial - soldier statue, pathway/walkway, memorial - gate/s, trees/plantings
	Location of Goondiwindi War Memorial in Queensland

Last updated October 01, 2019

Goondiwindi War Memorial is a heritage-listed war memorial at Marshall Street, Goondiwindi, Goondiwindi Region, Queensland, Australia. The memorial includes a life-sized statue of a Digger (WWI, built in 1922) and memorial gates (WWII, built in 1949). It is also known as Memorial Gates and The Soldiers' Memorial (Digger Statue). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.^[1]

A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.

The Goondiwindi Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia along the state's border with New South Wales. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas which dated back to the 19th century.

Queensland is the second-largest and third-most populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. To its north is the Torres Strait, with Papua New Guinea located less than 200 km across it from the mainland. The state is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 square kilometres (715,309 sq mi).

History

The Goondiwindi War Memorial includes a digger statue unveiled 21 September 1922^[2] and a set of gates erected in 1949, as memorials to the First and Second World Wars respectively.^[1]

Digger is a military slang term for soldiers from Australia and New Zealand. Evidence of its use has been found in those countries as early as the 1850s, but its current usage in a military context did not become prominent until World War I, when Australian and New Zealand troops began using it on the Western Front around 1916–17. Evolving out of its usage during the war, the term has been linked to the concept of the Anzac legend, but within a wider social context, it is linked to the concept of "egalitarian mateship".

The Soldiers' Monument was originally erected in Herbert Street, with an iron fence surrounding the monument. The monument cost £ 1 800 and was unveiled on 21 September 1922,^[3] by Sir Matthew Nathan, Governor of Queensland, who was in Goondiwindi to observe an eclipse of the sun.^[4] It is likely that the monument was erected by a public committee. Although the designer of the monument is unknown, it is possible that it was manufactured in New South Wales.^[1]

The Australian pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. As with other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan, was a British soldier and colonial administrator, who variously served as the Governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Queensland. He was Under-Secretary for Ireland from 1914 to 1916, and was responsible, with the Chief Secretary, Augustine Birrell, for the administration of Ireland in the years immediately preceding the Easter Rising.

The Governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the Queen of Australia. In an analogous way to the Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the Governor performs constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level. In particular the governor has the power to appoint and dismiss the Premier of Queensland and all other ministers in the cabinet, and issue writs for the election of the state parliament.

In 1949 the monument was re-sited, presumably at the time the World War 2 Memorial Gates were constructed. More than £ 2,844 was spent on transferring the monument to the park site and erecting the gates. The gates were erected by the Goondiwindi War Memorial Committee, and were unveiled in April 1949 by Sir Thomas William Glasgow. At the completion of the ceremony the keys of the gates were handed to Alderman F Vetter, symbolic of the town accepting responsibility and custody of the memorial. The designer of the gates is also unknown.^[1]

Description

The Goondiwindi War Memorial is located at the western end of Goondiwindi's main street, in the south-eastern corner of the Goondiwindi Memorial Park. The memorial consists of a Digger monument (WWI) and memorial gates (WWII). The monument rises to approximately six metres and is centrally placed within a generous square enclosure whose boundaries are defined by poplar trees, hedges, silky oaks and figs. The monument is axially aligned with the memorial gates, which truncate the street corner. The monument framed by the gates with a backdrop of poplar trees creates an impressive formal tableau.^[1]

A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges used to separate a road from adjoining fields or one field from another, and of sufficient age to incorporate larger trees, are known as hedgerows. Often they serve as windbreaks to improve conditions for the adjacent crops, as in bocage country. When clipped and maintained, hedges are also a simple form of topiary.

The monument consists of a life-sized grey sandstone Digger on a red and grey polished granite column, which sits on a polished blocked trachyte pedestal and a stepped concrete base. The pedestal has gilt inscriptions, and the column has a grey granite base and capital with a red granite shaft. The Digger stands with his left foot forward, holding the top of the rifle barrel in his right hand.^[1]^[5]

Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral particles or rock fragments.

Granite A common type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock with granular structure

Granite is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture. Granites can be predominantly white, pink, or gray in color, depending on their mineralogy. The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a holocrystalline rock. Strictly speaking, granite is an igneous rock with between 20% and 60% quartz by volume, and at least 35% of the total feldspar consisting of alkali feldspar, although commonly the term "granite" is used to refer to a wider range of coarse-grained igneous rocks containing quartz and feldspar.

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. The term column applies especially to a large round support with a capital and a base or pedestal which is made of stone, or appearing to be so. A small wooden or metal support is typically called a post, and supports with a rectangular or other non-round section are usually called piers. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces. Other compression members are often termed "columns" because of the similar stress conditions. Columns are frequently used to support beams or arches on which the upper parts of walls or ceilings rest. In architecture, "column" refers to such a structural element that also has certain proportional and decorative features. A column might also be a decorative element not needed for structural purposes; many columns are "engaged", that is to say form part of a wall.

The memorial gates are formed with sandstone pillars and decorative steel gates, and comprise a central gateway flanked by two smaller gateways. The pillars have sandstone nibs, and are topped with rectilinear octagonal light fittings. The gates have circular motifs and crests.^[1]^[6]

The monument is well-crafted in fine materials, and the formal tableau of the monument and poplars framed by the gates makes a strong aesthetic contribution to the Goondiwindi townscape.^[1]

Heritage listing

Goondiwindi War Memorial was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.^[1]

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.

The Goondiwindi War Memorial is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, as evidence of an era of widespread expression of Australian patriotism and nationalism, during and following the First World War.^[1]

The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.

It exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community: the monument is well-crafted in unusual and fine materials; and the formal tableau of the monument and poplars framed by the gates makes an aesthetic contribution to the Goondiwindi townscape.^[1]

The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.

It has a strong association with the community as evidence of the impact of a major historical event.^[1]

Related Research Articles

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Goondiwindi War Memorial (entry 600532)". Queensland Heritage Register . Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
↑ "WAR MEMORIAL AT GOONDIWINDI". The Telegraph (15543). Queensland, Australia. 21 September 1922. p. 4 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 22 January 2017– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "WAR MEMORIAL AT GOONDIWINDI". The Telegraph (15543). Queensland, Australia. 21 September 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 18 January 2017– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "ATTITUDE OF AUSTRALIA". Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay And Burnett Advertiser (14, 699). Queensland, Australia. 22 September 1922. p. 5. Retrieved 18 January 2017– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Goondiwindi WW1 War Memorial (Digger)". Queensland War Memorial Register. Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
↑ "Goondiwindi War Memorial Gates". Queensland War Memorial Register. Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article incorporates text from "The Queensland heritage register" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 7 July 2014, archived on 8 October 2014). The geo-coordinates were computed from the "Queensland heritage register boundaries" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 5 September 2014, archived on 15 October 2014).

External links

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[qhr-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Goondiwindi War Memorial (entry 600532)". Queensland Heritage Register . Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.

[2] "WAR MEMORIAL AT GOONDIWINDI". The Telegraph (15543). Queensland, Australia. 21 September 1922. p. 4 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 22 January 2017– via National Library of Australia.

[3] "WAR MEMORIAL AT GOONDIWINDI". The Telegraph (15543). Queensland, Australia. 21 September 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 18 January 2017– via National Library of Australia.

[4] "ATTITUDE OF AUSTRALIA". Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay And Burnett Advertiser (14, 699). Queensland, Australia. 22 September 1922. p. 5. Retrieved 18 January 2017– via National Library of Australia.

[5] "Goondiwindi WW1 War Memorial (Digger)". Queensland War Memorial Register. Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.

[6] "Goondiwindi War Memorial Gates". Queensland War Memorial Register. Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.