"Memorial Ribbons"Print Page

"Memorial Ribbons" is a commemorative art piece which was unveiled on the 18th August 2012, the 46th anniversary of Long Tan Day . The ribbons were vandalised and removed in 2015 and reinstated in the park in 2017. 

Inspired by the ribbon bars on soldiers’ uniforms, the five striking columns of colour represent the major conflicts of World Wars One and Two, the Korean and Vietnam Wars and contemporary conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor.

Text and pictures are incorporated into the artwork’s multi-colour safety glass panels describing the experiences of veterans from the Armadale district. The Memorial Ribbons, range in height from 2.77m to 4.6m. 

Armadale RSL members said vandalism of the military ribbons in memorial park showed ‘utter disrespect’ for military personnel and urged anyone with information to come forward.  Vandals smashed five of the glass tower ribbons on the weekend of October 24 and 25, which forced the council to remove all 12 because of safety fears. The removal meant the ribbons were not in place for the City of Armadale and the RSL’s Remembrance day service last week.

Armadale RSL president Ken Hepburn said the vandalism showed the offenders had no respect or understanding of former and current military personnel. “It shows a lack of respect because those ribbons represented the people who have gone overseas to keep this country free,” he said.  “To do that they’re showing their inability to understand what people have gone through for them to have the lifestyle they’ve got now. We were really upset over at the RSL and some of the boys were pretty angry.”

Armadale local policing team sergeant Ian Bennett said police had collected the CCTV footage and were attempting to find out who the person or people of interest were but he urged anyone with information to contact police.
Examiners Newpapers, 19 November 2015. 

Commemorating the various battles Australians have fought in since World War I, the iconic installation is coming back to Memorial Park after being vandalised in 2015.

Previous Armadale mayor Linton Reynolds, who served for six years in the Vietnam War, said war had taken a |serious toll on the local area, especially during the first Battle for Bullecourt on April 11 1917. “When you consider the population of the district was less than 1000, there were many families impacted on that one day,” Mr Reynolds said. “For weeks afterwards, there were telegrams arriving. It was sometimes not known for months whether people were missing or captured, and the district was on edge, as many districts would have been.”

The Memorial Ribbons commemorative art piece represents not only those who went overseas but those who stayed behind and lost someone. The five bars cover the ribbons that might have been received during the respective wars, from World War I to World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and contemporary Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor.
Perth Now, April 25 2017.

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