Strathfield War MemorialPrint Page

The War Memorial commemorates those from the district who served in World War One. 

It consists of honour rolls and a memorial shaped as a globe symbolising the unity of British Empire. The firm of Loveridge and Hudson carried out the trachyte, and Messrs Esdaile the bronze work, in connection with the memorial. 

The honour roll is split on 2 sides of a window directly behind the monument. There are flag poles on each side of the monument. Behind the monument on the wall of the Council chambers is the memorial plaque. On ANZAC Day, 2015 a plaque was placed on the wall to commemorate the centenary of World War One. 

The war memorial erected by the citizens of Strathfield was unveiled by the Governor, Sir Dudley de Chair, yesterday afternoon. Among those on the platform were Mr. P. E. Coleman, M.P., Sir Thomas Henley, Mr. T. R. Bavin (leader of the State Opposition), Mr. E. Sanders and Major Milton Jarvie, Ms.L.A., Colonel-Chaplain H. J. Rose, Chaplain H. S. Grimwade, Aldermen F. J. Wallis (president of the memorial committee), Paine, Wheeldon, Kessell, Boden, and Pilgrim, Colonel R. H. Beardsmore,  D S.O., V.D., Captain Rose, Mr. E. C. Elliott (president N.S.W. branch Returned Sailors and Soldiers' League of Australia).

Mr. Bavin said it was a source of satisfaction there should be in Strathfield, which contributed such a large proportion of men, a permanent memorial, beautiful in form and symbolical in design. It was well also that it should be erected at a spot where it was sure to remind those who were giving their services for the benefit of the citizens that there was still a call for the same qualities of courage, endurance, and right as distinguished those to whom that memorial was erected. One lesson that should be stressed was their spirit of unity, for never was there such a need for that spirit as now. Those men whose names were inscribed on the memorial came from all classes of the community, and were of all religions, but all forget their differences in the great object for which they fought and for which they died.

Sir Dudley de Chair said that the memorial would be an everlasting reminder of the 350 gallant men of Strathfield who came forward to help the Empire in its hour of need. Everybody should remember what they owed to those men, and that those who fell had not died in vain. His Excellency unveiled the memorial and honour roll while the guard stood at the salute, and the Last Post was sounded. A wreath in memory of the fallen was placed on the memorial by Colonel Beardsmore. Hymns were sung, and prayer offered by Colonel-Chaplain Rose.

The memorial is designed to symbolise the unity of the British Empire. On a firm base of trachyte a bronze sphere show the units of the Empire as a chain of golden links encircling the earth. The sphere rests upon a wreath of Victory. From the wreath hang ribbons in the form of endless knots, suggesting the Empire's continuity. The three hundred and fifty names of those to whom the memorial has been erected are engraved on two large bronze tablets, which are placed upon the walls of the Council Chamber, immediately behind it. A small cast plate is set between, having the following inscription: -"This memorial is erected in honour of those associated with Strathfield who served the cause of freedom in the Great War, and whose names are here inscribed. The only inscription on the memorial itself are the words inscribed on the front of the base: "Golden the links that bind our far-flung Empire, 1914 -1918." 
Sydney Morning Herald, 12 October 1925.

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Dedication