ANZAC War Memorial

ANZAC Memorial
Australia
ANZAC Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney
For the AIF dead of World War I
Unveiled	24 November 1934
Location	33°52′32.6″S 151°12′39.4″E / 33.875722°S 151.210944°E / -33.875722; 151.210944Coordinates: 33°52′32.6″S 151°12′39.4″E / 33.875722°S 151.210944°E / -33.875722; 151.210944 near Sydney, Australia
Designed by	Bruce Dellit

The ANZAC Memorial, completed in 1934, is the main commemorative military monument of Sydney, Australia. It was designed by C. Bruce Dellit, with the exterior adorned with monumental figural reliefs and sculptures by Rayner Hoff.^[1]

The memorial is located at the southern extremity of Hyde Park on the eastern edge of Sydney's central business district, and it is the focus of commemoration ceremonies on Anzac Day, Remembrance Day and other important occasions.

It was built as a memorial to the Australian Imperial Force of World War I. Fund raising for a memorial began on 25 April 1916, the first anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landing at Anzac Cove for the Battle of Gallipoli.^[2] It was opened on 24 November 1934 by His Royal Highness Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.

Design

A competition for the design of the memorial was commissioned in July 1929 and a month later the prize-winning entries were announced by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Philip Game. Third prize was awarded to Peter Kaad, second prize to John D. Moore and the winner was Bruce Dellit. The successful contractors for the building works were Kell & Rigby.^[3]

The building is constructed of concrete, with an exterior cladding of pink granite, and consists of a massed square superstructure with typically Art Deco setbacks and buttresses, punctuated on each side by a large arched window of yellow stained glass, and crowned with a ziggurat-inspired stepped roof. It is positioned atop a cruciform pedestal within which are located administrative offices and a small museum.

The interior is largely faced in white marble, and features a domed ceiling adorned with 120,000 gold stars – one for each of New South Wales' military volunteers during World War I. Access to the main hall is provided via broad stairways on each side of the building's north-south axis, while ground-level doorways on the east and west sides offer entry to the lower section.

The main focus of the interior is Rayner Hoff's monumental bronze sculpture of a deceased youth, representing a soldier, held aloft on his shield by a caryatid – three female figures, representing his mother, sister and wife. The male figure's nudity was considered shocking at the time of the monument's opening, and it is said to be the only such representation of a naked male form within any war memorial. Two other even more controversial figural sculptures designed by Hoff—one featuring a naked female figure—were never installed on the eastern and western faces of the structure as intended, partly as a result of opposition from high ranking, reactionary local Catholic Church representatives.

The building's exterior is adorned with several bronze friezes, carved granite relief panels and twenty monumental stone figural sculptures symbolising military personnel, also by Hoff.

Immediately to the north of the ANZAC Memorial is a large rectangular "Lake of Reflections" flanked by rows of poplars. The poplars, not native to Australia, symbolise the areas of France in which Australian troops fought. Original plans called for the construction of similar pools on each of the other sides of the building, but these were never built.

A ten-metre-long bronze relief, over the west door by Rayner Hoff.

The other 10 m (32.8 ft) long bronze relief, over the east door. These two sculptures illustrate the functions and activities of elements of the Australian Imperial Force overseas.^[4]

The memorial at night

Images

General view of the memorial's setting in Hyde Park
Daytime snapshot of the ANZAC Memorial
Detail of monumental sculptures and reliefs
Rayner Hoff's Sacrifice inside the memorial
Looking up through the 'Well of Contemplation'
The Memorial, as seen across the "Lake Of Reflections", by night.

References

↑ "History". Anzac Memorial. Department of Premier and Cabinet, New South Wales Government. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
↑ "Sydney". Anzacday.org.au. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
↑ "How the Memorial came into being" Returned and Services League of Australia (NSW), Retrieved 15 February 2012
↑ "ANZAC War Memorial Hyde Park". Art Deco Sydney. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.

Sources

Bayer, Patricia, Art Deco Architecture: Design, Decoration and Detail from the Twenties and Thirties, Thames & Hudson, London, 1992
Edwards, Deborah, This Vital Flesh: The Sculpture of Rayner Hoff and His School, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1999
Hedger, Michael, Public Sculpture in Australia, Craftsman House, Sydney, NSW, 1995
Inglis, K.S., Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1998
Sturgeon, Graeme, The Development of Australian Sculpture: 1788 – 1975, Thames & Hudson, London, 1978
Van Daele, Patrick and Roy Lumly, A Spirit of Progress: Art Deco Architecture in Australia, Craftsman House, Sydney, NSW, 1997

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ANZAC War Memorial.

Official website
Anzac War Memorial 3D animation
The Anzac Memorial Pool of Reflection – Description of the memorial from the City of Sydney website. (Last accessed 2 August 2013)
Peace Offering that Shocked the Church – A newspaper article that discusses the controversy surrounding the never-installed sculptures Rayner Hoff designed for the Anzac Memorial
National salute needed for Aussie Diggers – Information on a proposal by the City of Sydney to install the second pond of reflection on the southern side of the memorial as originally intended
Laila Ellmoos – City of Sydney History Program (2008). "Anzac War Memorial Hyde Park". Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 7 October 2015. [CC-By-SA]

Sydney landmarks

Buildings / structures	Admiralty House Archibald Fountain Australia Square Cadmans Cottage The Cenotaph Chifley Tower Citigroup Centre International Convention Centre Deutsche Bank Place Dr Chau Chak Wing Building El Alamein Fountain Finger Wharf General Post Office (No. 1 Martin Place) Government House Governor Phillip Tower Harbour Bridge Hyde Park Barracks King Street Wharf Kirribilli House Long Bay Macquarie Lighthouse Mint Observatory Old Government House Opera House Parliament House Parramatta Gaol Regimental Square Queen Victoria Building St Andrew's Cathedral St Mary's Cathedral Sydney Tower Eye The Toaster Town Hall War Memorial Warragamba Dam World Square World Tower

Precincts	Barangaroo Central Park Chinatown Darling Harbour Green Square Kings Cross Martin Place Pitt Street Mall Railway Square The Rocks

Parks and nature	Auburn Botanical Gardens Balls Head Reserve Berowra Valley National Park Bicentennial Park Blue Mountains National Park Botany Bay National Park Centennial Park Central Gardens Nature Reserve Chinese Garden of Friendship Cronulla sand dunes Farm Cove Field of Mars Reserve Fred Hollows Reserve Garigal National Park Garawarra Conservation Area Georges River National Park Heathcote National Park Hyde Park Ku-ring-gai Chase Lane Cove National Park Macquarie Place Moore Park Prospect Hill Royal Botanic Gardens Royal National Park Sydney Harbour National Park Sydney Park The Domain Western Sydney Parklands

Cultural institutions	Art Gallery of New South Wales Australian Museum Australian National Maritime Museum Manly Art Gallery and Museum Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Sydney Powerhouse Museum Sea Life Sydney Aquarium State Library Sydney Conservatorium of Music Taronga Zoo

Sport	The Australian Golf Club Stadium Australia Rosehill Gardens Racecourse Royal Randwick Royal Sydney Golf Club State Sports Centre Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Football Stadium Sydney International Aquatic Centre Sydney International Regatta Centre Sydney Motorsport Park Sydney Olympic Park Wentworth Park

Transportation	Anzac Bridge Bradfield Highway Broadway Cahill Expressway Captain Cook Bridge Central Station Circular Quay City Circle Cross City Tunnel Eastern Distributor George Street Gladesville Bridge Gore Hill Freeway Liverpool–Parramatta T-way M2 Hills Motorway M4 Western Motorway M5 Macquarie Street North-West T-way Norton Street Opal card Oxford Street Pacific Highway Parramatta Road Pitt Street Princes Highway Pyrmont Bridge Roseville Bridge Southern Cross Drive Spit Bridge Sydney Airport Sydney Buses Sydney Ferries Sydney Harbour Bridge Sydney Harbour Tunnel Tom Uglys Bridge Warringah Freeway Westlink M7 William Street

Entertainment	Capitol Theatre Entertainment Centre Entertainment Quarter Fox Studios Australia Luna Park Lyric Theatre Plaza Theatre The Star State Theatre Sydney Super Dome Sydney Theatre Theatre Royal Wet'n'Wild

Beaches	Avalon Bondi & North Bondi Bronte Clovelly Coogee Cronulla Manly Maroubra Newport Palm Beach Tamarama

Islands	Bare Clark Cockatoo Fort Denison Garden Goat Rodd Shark Snapper Spectacle

Australian war memorials

Major national monuments (capital cities)	ANZAC War Memorial (Sydney) Australian Army Memorial (Canberra) Australian War Memorial (Canberra) The Cenotaph (Hobart) Kings Park War Memorial (Perth) National War Memorial (Adelaide) Shrine of Remembrance (Brisbane) Shrine of Remembrance (Melbourne)

On foreign soil	Australian War Memorial (London, England) Lae War Cemetery (Lae, Papua New Guinea) Lone Pine Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery (Gallipoli, Turkey) V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial (Fromelles, France)

Regional monuments	ACT Memorial (Canberra) Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial (Ballarat) Monument Hill (Fremantle) Victory Memorial Gardens (Wagga Wagga)

Boer War memorials	South African War Memorial (Adelaide)

World War I memorials	Arch of Victory (Ballarat) Avenues of Honour The Cenotaph (Sydney) Johnstone Park Memorial (Geelong)

World War II memorials	Australian–American Memorial (Canberra) Avenues of Honour Albany Armadale Bacchus Marsh Ballarat Booroopki Buchan South Cowra Hobart Lakes Entrance Lysterfield Macedon O'Connell Woodend North El Alamein Fountain (Sydney) Military Museum and Bombing Memorial (Darwin)

Korean War memorials	Korean War Memorial (Canberra)

Campaigns	Regimental Square (Sydney)

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