And never to return: The War Memorial Movement

The Society’s Anzac Centenary Lecture was organised to complement the theme of its Anzac Centenary Program exhibition Sacrifice, Struggle and Sorrow shown in the Southern Hall at Glebe Town Hall, October 7-23, 2015. The lecture was delivered by Professor Paul Ashton on Tuesday October 13.

While more than 60,000 Australia lost their lives in World War I, only one body was repatriated. Felt across the nation, such loss saw the emergence of a war memorial movement. Memorials began to spring up across cities, suburbs and towns. Glebe was one of the first of Sydney’s suburbs to establish memorials to the fallen.

Paul Ashton is a Professor of Public History at the Australian Centre for Public History at the University of Technology Sydney. His publications include Places of the Heart: Memorials in Australia and Silent System: Forgotten Australians and the Institutionalisation of Women and Children. Paul edits Public History Review and is Chair of the Dictionary of Sydney

Click here to read the text of Paul Ashton’s lecture.