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Wounded AngelPrint Page Print this page

21-March-2020
21-March-2020

Photographs supplied by Russell Byers

The statue of an angel which was in the original wooden cathedral commemorates the bombing of Darwin in World War Two.

 

Location

Address:90 Smith Street, St Mary's Star of the Sea Cathedral, Darwin, 0800
State:NT
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -12.459688
Long: 130.838518
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Statue
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:WW2
Actual Event Start Date:03-September-1939
Actual Event End Date:15-August-1945

Dedication

Front Inscription

"Wounded Angel"

This statue, for many years stood sentinel beside the altar in the original wooden Cathedral of Darwin.

During the Second World War, when the town was attacked repeatedly by enemy planes, the old Cathedral was extensively damaged. In one air-raid the statue was struck by a piece of shrapnel from a Japanese bomb.

The total number of raids in the Darwin area was sixty and casualties in the Bombing of Darwin on February 19th, 1942 were 250 killed and 300 - 400 wounded.  Much of the town was destroyed and the harbour was strewn with sunken ships.

The "Wounded Angel" is now enshrined in this War Memorial Cathedral.  Its presence is a mute reminder of the disaster which struck the town of Darwin, and of the destruction which menaced the rest of Australia.  From this danger, in the designs of Providence we were mercifully spared.

May visitors to this War Memorial Cathedral recall the sacrifice of those who gave their lives in defence of our country, and may they say a grateful prayer to God for the continued safety of Australia and her people.

 

 

 

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au