To the ANZACs: A National Day of Remembrance, Canberra, Australia

The Commemorative Area Forecourt, the Australian War Museum in Canberra

Inside the Australian War Museum
The Australian War Museum in Canberra is a solemn place – a place in which to reflect on the costs of war. Standing in the Commemorative Area Forecourt, we look across the pond at the eternal flame, with the Hall of Memory in the background.

Somewhere in my neighbourhood, there is a bagpiper.

I hear him more often than see him: at sporadic intervals throughout the year, kitted out in full tartan he plays through a selection of tunes. When I hear him, I know it is the lead-up to one of Australia’s days of remembrance.

He’s been out again over the last month, and sure enough, today is ANZAC day.

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and the date – April 25th every year – was chosen to mark when the two countries’ forces joined to form part of the allied expedition attempting to capture the Gallipoli peninsula. Today, it is observed annually to remember all Australians who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.

It’s a solemn occasion, and seemed like a good time to revisit photos from the Australian War Memorial (AWM) and ANZAC Parade, both in Canberra.

Canberra, Australia’s capital, is a planned city: ANZAC Parade is a broad boulevard that runs along the Land Axis, a key feature of the designer Walter Burley Griffin’s Griffin’s original 1912 plan. It affords long views between the memorial and the elegant Parliament House. As a commemorative walk with sculptural tributes to the various forces interspersed along both sides, ‘The Parade’ was finished in 1965.

The concept for the AWM was born in 1925 and the building first opened in 1941.

Come for a walk:

The Bushmaster, the Australian War Museum, Canberra.

The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle
I visited the Australian War Museum with my son, who – because of his military service has an intimate knowledge of armoured vehicles – was happy to introduce me to ‘his’ Bushmaster …

Tanks, the Australian War Museum, Canberra.

Tanks
… and the panzers on display in the courtyard.

‘Lest We Forget’

Commemorative Area Forecourt
Once past the first entry, we are in the forecourt, where the Roll of Honour sits behind arched cloisters.

Winged Victory
The halls in the museum are dark. Gilbert Doble’s (1880-1945) copper alloy sculpture of Nike, the winged goddess of victory, was rescued from the Marrickville Soldiers’ Memorial, where it was at risk of disintegrating.

Greece
In an exhibition called Shared Experience, we find the Lyndon Dadswell (1908–1986) bronze representing the 16th Australian Infantry Brigade in their march back over Mount Olympus during WWII.

‘Tenacity 2020’
Poppies are an enduring symbol of the muddy battlefields of WWI. Contemporary Australian artist Katrina Black draws a metaphor between their tenacious but transient beauty, the struggles of war, and the power of a simple symbol to unite allies.

The Avenue
Back outside, we have a clear view to Parliament Hill.

The Museum
When it was agreed to build the museum in 1923, a design competition was held. With no clear winner, architects Emil Sodersten and John Crust were asked to collaborate and create a design incorporating different proposals.

Dome
The building includes Art Deco elements, with Byzantine and Egyptian components.

Shade Tree
The surrounds are green, shady, …

Australian Soldier by Wallace Anderson
… and punctuated with sculptures paying homage to the armed forces.

ANZAC Parade
From the bottom of The Parade, you have a clear view to the Australian War Museum, with Mount Ainslie behind it. Construction of new spaces are ongoing.

‘Each of Us at a Handle of the Basket’
I started my walk along The Parade at the bottom, and proceeded backwards from there. The New Zealand Memorial was a gift to Australia in 2001: representations of flax-basket handles, symbolic of the two nations working together, are on both sides of the of the road.

Crests of the Peacekeepers
The Australian Peacekeeping Memorial acknowledges military, police, and civilian peacekeepers active in international missions since 1947.

Australian Peacekeeping Memorial
On an almost windless day, the flags of the agencies flap lightly overhead.

The Rats of Tobruk Memorial
Through the tall southern blue gums (Eucalyptus globulus), the sandy colours of the memorial marking the historic WWII siege of Tobruk in Libya command attention.

An Eternal Flame
German propaganda radio likened the allied troops in Libya to rats – and the Australians in the garrison took the jibe and wore it with pride. The Rats of Tobruk Memorial is modelled on the one built by Royal Australian Engineers in Tobruk during the siege.

Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial
Across the wide boulevard, we can see the monument dedicated to those Australians who served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1973.

Australian Service Nurses National Memorial
On my side of the road, elegantly curved and flowing glass commemorates the nurses – like my daughter – who have served on battlefields since the Boer War.

Australian Army National Memorial
Across the avenue, a couple of ‘diggers’ are on patrol.

Royal Australian Navy Memorial
The blocky ‘Sailors and Ships’ monument is a distinct contrast to some of the other sculptured forms.

Atatürk
The bronze likeness of Kemal Ataturk, the commander of the Turkish forces at Gallipoli, and the founding father and first president of modern Türkiye, was a gift from the Turkish Government to acknowledge the 70th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli (see: The Gallipoli Peninsula).

‘Every Mother’s Son’
The first monument on the self-guided walk (or the middle one, in my case) is the Australian Hellenic Memorial to a WWII unit. At the next cluster, the ‘diggers’, continue their patrol in their jungle greens.

Poppies
Flowers have been attached to the diggers’ uniforms – making a small splash of colour.

Australian National Korean War Memorial
The field of poles surrounding the three participant forces – sailors, soldiers, and airmen – represents those who died during the Korean War.

Desert Mounted Corps Memorial
Commonly known as the Light Horse Memorial, this sculpture is a copy of one which originally formed part of a tribute erected at Port Said in 1932. It commemorates the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who were killed in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria during World War One.

The Australian Boer War Memorial
Australian Colonial forces joined the British against the the Dutch-Afrikaner settlers in South Africa between 1899 and 1902.