Malvern Town Hall War MemorialPrint Page

The monument was originally erected to commemorate those who served in World War One. The figures stand, with heads cast down, on either side of a tablet adorned with a wreath and the Rising Sun emblem

The monument is a marble statue of a woman holding a baby and a bare-headed soldier, both with their heads bowed on either side of a tablet adorned with a wreath and the Rising Sun emblem. In front of the tableau, on a grey marble plinth, is a wooden, glazed case holding an illuminated Book of Remembrance in which are inscribed the names of those from Malvern and Prahran who lost their lives in World War One. 

The Book of Remembrance also contains the names of those who lost their lives in World War Two. The marble tablet has now been engraved with a list of conflicts from World War One to the Vietnam War. 

"Sermons in Stone.''
"This war memorial has been given by the Malvern City Council to perpetuate the spirit of sacrifice of the men who died in the Great War and of the old people who stayed at home " said the mayor (Councillor C J Waters), when unveiling the war memorial in the foyer of the town hall yesterday afternoon. It was estimated, said Mr Walters, that 1500 men from Malvern  went to the war and that 184 of them made the supreme sacrifice.  The memorial was sculptured by Mr Paul Montford in white marble. It represents a soldier standing and a woman sitting with a child on her knee. The soldier and the woman are both looking down on the Book of Remembrance on which is engraved the names of the men who died in the war.

A service was held in the town hall before the unveiling ceremony.  It was attended by the mayor, the leader of the Opposition in the State Parliamnet (Sir Stanley Argyle), the councillors of Malvern and members of the clergy of the diocese. Sir Stanley Argyle said that through the ages all great deeds, events and men had been commemorated by memorials: the one everlasting means of perpetuating those big things of life. Most memorial were not so much "sermons in stone" but historical records and he was pleased to see that the city fathers of Malvern had thought fit to place in the foyer of the town hall a work of art that would tell the future generation a story of sacrifice: a story that their children`s children would read and learn from it of the soul of the people of this country. It was a memorial of sacrifice; of the sacrifice of the men who went away and also of the sacrifice of the fathers, mothers, sisters and wives who stayed waiting at home which sacrifice had not been recognised as it should have been.  ln that respect Malvern had taken the lead. Because of their devotion to duty: because of their patriotism: and because of their sacrifice, let soldiers and waiting relatives alike be given remembrance and reverence.
The Argus (Melbourne), 24 August 1931. 
 

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