Lieutenant Mark Strong & Private George WelchPrint Page

The memorial gates at Corndale Hall commemorate Lieutenant Mark Strong and Private George Welch who died on active service during World War Two.  The gates have been removed and only the gate pillars and the marble tablets remain. 

A special service of commemoration was conducted, at Corndale by Rev. R. Coleman, the Methodist Minister of Dunoon. A feature of the service was the opening of the Memorial Gates, which were erected by the Corndale Hall in memory of Mark Strong and George Welch, who gave their lives at Saputra on November 21, 1942, on active service. Following a brief service around the gates, Mr. Coleman called upon Mrs. A. Strong, mother of the late Lieutenant Mark Strong, to come forward with her husband and open the gates. When the people assembled had passed through the gates, the following oration was given: "We open these gates in solemn remembrance of Mark Strong and George Welch—men who gave their all that we might enjoy the heritage they have bequeathed to us.

"As these gates are opened, may we view the act as symbolical of a gate of opportunity opened unto the world by all those who have paid the supreme sacrifice that men might journey onward to a new world in which they may some day live in the spirit of peace, love and concord, to the glory of God and the fulfilment of His Kingdom." During his address in the service which followed, Mr. Coleman said the remembrance of the men being honoured should make those who remain conscious of a great cloud of witnesses anxious to know how we safeguard the heritage they bequeathed. Peace in the world was not yet an established fact, and it behoved us to continue to live for the ideals for which the men fought and died.
Northern Star (Lismore, NSW), 13 September 1948.

 

Location

Details

Dedication