War Memorial Cairn - Gulargambone, NSW, Australia
S 31° 19.846 E 148° 28.390
55J E 640156 N 6532802
Between the Castlereagh Highway, and Coonamble Street is the Memorial Park, with a tall stone cairn.
Waymark Code: WM106J6
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 03/07/2019
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The original basalt-stone cairn was built in 1922, as a commemoration for the locals who went to 'the Great War' of 1914-1918. The front granite tablet reads:
IN
Memory of
Those
Who Lost Their Lives
and
In Gratitude to Those
Who Served in the
Great War
1914-1918
1939 -- 1945
So, prior to 1991 when it had a major restoration, it is best described from the article in the The Sydney Morning Herald from 4 May, 1922, as excerpted in the Monuments Australia website for the monument:
"DUBBO. WEDNESDAY
"A soldiers' monument has been erected and unveiled at Gulargambone, and 220 names are inscribed on it. The foundation is of reinforced concrete, 18in deep, 10ft 6in long, and 9ft 6in high. The upper structure is of Pyrmont freestone, with black Swedish granite facings, on which the names are inscribed. At the base of the monument there are two steps of dressed stone, and rising from this is a rockfaced structure 9ft 6in by 8ft 6in and 14 ft high. Mounted on top is a machine gun, which was captured by a Gulargambone soldier named A.M. Backley. The plucky man was killed in his effort, but so brave was his action that he was awarded the V.C after his death." Gulargambone War Memorial: SMH, 4 May, 1922.
It now stands about 3 metres high, and certainly without a machine gun mounted on top.
Address: On the median strip between Coonamble Street and Castlereagh Highway, corner of Bourbah Street, Gulargambone, NSW, 2828, Australia
Visited: 1409-1411, Friday, 21 September, 2018