| Australian War Memorial | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
 The Australian War Memorial in London | |
 | |
| For Australia's military personnel who died during the First and Second World Wars | |
| Unveiled | 11 November 2003; 22 years ago (2003-11-11) |
| Location | |
TheAustralian War Memorial in London is amemorial dedicated in 2003 to the 102,000Australian dead of theFirst andSecond World Wars. It is located on the southernmost corner ofHyde Park Corner, on the traffic island that also houses theWellington Arch, theNew Zealand War Memorial, theMachine Gun Corps Memorial and theRoyal Artillery Memorial.
The memorial comprises a semicircular curved wall of grey-green granite slabs fromWestern Australia (Verde Laguna granite fromJerramungup), cut in Australia before being shipped to London. The granite stones are inscribed with the names of 23,844 towns in which the Australian soldiers were born, in Australia, the UK and elsewhere. Parts of some town names are picked out in bolder type, creating the names of 47 battles in which Australia was involved in a larger font. In summer months, water runs down over the names, intended to evoke "memories of service, suffering and sacrifice".[1] The curved wall is set facing a downwards slope of grass, forming an amphitheatre.[citation needed]
Four blocks bear the crest of Australia and the insignia of the three branches of the Australian armed services, and three other blocks bear dedicatory inscriptions: "Whatever burden you are to carry we also will shoulder that burden (Robert Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia, 1941). // Australia – United Kingdom // 1914 – 1918 // 1939 – 1945". Three seating blocks are placed in front of the wall.[citation needed]
It is under the care of theCommonwealth War Graves Commission.[citation needed]
The proposal to create an Australian war memorial in London was announced in July 2000, during the centenary of theAustralian Federation. The memorial was designed for theOffice of Australian War Graves at the AustralianDepartment of Veterans' Affairs byTonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects and the artistJanet Laurence.[2] It cost an estimated £3m, funded by the Australian Government. It won the Australian Stone Architectural Award for Best International Project in 2006.[citation needed]
The work was commissioned at the beginning of 2003, and the memorial was unveiled on 11 November (Armistice Day) 2003, the 85th anniversary of the armistice to end the First World War, byElizabeth II in her role asqueen of Australia. In attendance wasPrime Minister of the United KingdomTony Blair and theAustralian Prime MinisterJohn Howard. And also present wereSimon Crean,Leader of the Opposition in Australia;Alexander Downer,Australian Foreign Minister;Danna Vale,Australian Minister for Veterans' Affairs; GeneralPeter Cosgrove,Chief of theAustralian Defence Force; the three principal chaplains for the Australian Army, Navy and Air Force; former UK Prime MinisterBaroness Thatcher; andGeoff Hoon,UK Secretary of State for Defence. Around 3,000 people were present at the ceremony, including 27 Australian veterans and it ended with a flypast ofJaguars fromNo. 54 Squadron RAF.[citation needed]
A metal plaque from the memorial was stolen in May 2013, but recovered and replaced before 11 November 2013.[citation needed]
51°30′08″N0°09′05″W / 51.5021°N 0.1515°W /51.5021; -0.1515
