Isurava Memorial, PNG. (Maintained by OWAG)
What is a War Memorial?
At its broadest, a 'war memorial' is a commemorative object, something intended to remind us of the people who have served and died in and because of war.
Forms of memorial
In Australia and around the world there are war memorials in a vast range of forms, both monumental and utilitarian. They range from simple memorial plaques and honour rolls to grand museums and monuments and everything in between:
- gates
- columns
- walls
- arches
- crosses such as the Cross of Sacrifice
- obelisks
- statues such as our 'digger memorials'
- cairns
- stones including Stones of Remembrance
- cenotaphs.
There are places dedicated as war memorials that also serve a further practical purpose, such as gardens, pavilions, pools, halls, hospitals and lighthouses.
People may argue over which is the best form for a war memorial, and whether war memorials should serve the further purpose of contributing to the prevention of future wars. They may debate a particular memorial's artistic merit, its cost or its location.
However, common to all war memorials remains the intention that they serve as a reminder to us of those we have lost to war.
See:
Nature
The nature of different war memorials and ways of describing them are numerous. Essentially, they can be divided according to by whom and to whom they are dedicated and where they are.
There are public memorials (in public places), private memorials, official government memorials and unofficial memorials. There are memorials dedicated on behalf of the nation or the State, memorials dedicated by and to specific branches of the services or military units, and memorials dedicated by businesses or even by private individuals or families.
There are memorials dedicated to all who have served [1], to all who have died, Memorials to the Missing that commemorate those with no known grave, memorials to those who served or died in particular wars, battles, campaigns or events. There are memorials dedicated to all who have served or died from a State, town or district.
Battle exploit or battlefield memorials are sited near where those they commemorate fell in given battles. Prisoner of War (POW) memorials may be at the site of the former POW camps. War memorials can sometimes be found where units were or are based.
Whatever the nature of a particular war memorial, it was dedicated with the intention that it remind us of those it commemorates.
The best war memorials are...'powerful expressions of a people's feeling'
Arnold Whittick, 'War Memorials', Country Life Limited, London, 1946
Dedication of the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial on Anzac Parade, Canberra. (Not maintained by OAWG)
- In this, Australia differs from British military tradition, which gives individual honours on monuments only to the dead.