Bassendean War Memorial

Details

Location BIC Reserve, Guildford Road & Wilson Street, Bassendean, Western Australia, Australia
Type memorial
Description

The memorial was first erected in 1920 alongside the Old Roads Board Office and contains the names of those who served and died in WW1. Relocated from the site adjacent to the Roads Board Offices.

The Work of constructing the monument was in the hands of two returned soldiers Messrs Wales & Gillies, (Harry WALES 7179 & Lawrence BILLIES 7159) the material for same being Mahogany Greek Granite. They were responsible for the construction of the monuments at West Guidlford (1920), Bayswater (1922) Mt. Lawley (1924) and Claremont (1922).

Harry Wales and Lawrence Gillies served in the 13th Company of Engineers  and the  Gillies family were stonemasons so on return from the war, the two set up business together.

A modestly scaled granite obelisk with a rough execution mounted on a wide, square base and plinth. It is inscribed on the four faces of the base with the names of 154 Bassendean men who served in World War I, 26 of whom died. In the early 1970s, the memorial was dismantled and re-erected on the site it presently occupies on Old Perth Road, 200 metres east of the original site. The original high stepped base was not retained, resulting in the memorial being much shorter and the plaques very close to the ground. It is rumoured that the base was removed because the architect for the new library did not want the memorial to be taller than or dominate the building. In addition to its value as a war memorial, the place is also a good example of the moral arguments regarding siting that accompanied the construction of many war memorials, and of the changes to these arguments over time as relocation was debated.

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Built Messrs. Wales and Gillies
Opened 12 December 1920 by Governor of Western Australia Sir Francis Newdegate
Inscription

Erected by the citizens of West Guildford to commemorate the Great War of 1914 - 1919

In honour of those who fought and fell in defence of the Empire

[ Names ]

Condition

Good

Names

Showing 7 people of interest from memorial

BUTT, Ernest

Service number 599
Private
28th Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 1887

YOUNG, Francis Henry

Service number 4631
Private
51st Infantry Battalion (WW1)
AIF WW1
Born 1894

MCKIBBIN, Adam Henry

Service number 250
Lance Corporal
4th Machine Gun Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 1881

BOWRA, Frederick Douglas Atlee

Service number OFFICER
Lieutenant
4th Field Company Engineers
AIF WW1
Born 9 Oct 1887

CHAMBERS, James Todd

Service number 5822
Private
28th Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 1875

FROBISHER, Joseph Henry

Service number 3103
Private
28th Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 1886

BARRY, Maurice Joseph

Service number 1998
Trooper
10th Light Horse Regiment
AIF WW1
Born 1893

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