The memorial has black marble plaques that list the names of the district servicemen and servicewomen who served in World Wars One [and Two].
A polished black marble plaque with gilded lettering on the grey granite base of the Memorial reads:
"Erected by the Residents
of
Myrtleford and District
as a tribute
to the Men who enlisted
and in Memory of those
who made the Supreme Sacrifice
in the Great War
1914-1919
Nearby is an printed aluminium sign, "Myrtleford War Memorial, Australia Remembers", which has the following text:
"This memorial to members of our defence forces who lost their lives as a result of war, since the Great War, 1914-18, forms the heart of this precinct.
"The original form of the memorial was erected in 1923, funded by public subscription as part of the Australia-wide "War Memorial Movement". The soldier, in uniform with slouch hat and standing at ease with rifle, represents a member of the citizens militia force. He is cast in white Italian marble and stands on a granite plinth and column. Additional names of the fallen from World War 2 were added to the monument after that conflict, as well the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Other military engagements have also been acknowledged, as in "Australia Remembers, 1945 to 1995".
"Near the monument and memorial gates, a plaque and Kurrajong tree memorialise the death of Military Nurse Elizabeth Rothery on return from active service on June 15, 1918. The first seedling was planted by her father and has been subsequently replaced. Another plaque now acknowledges the town's Victoria Cross Winner Albert David Lowerson [see other side of this historic sign bollard].
"Elsewhere in the town, the deeds of service personnel are also acknowledged (see below). The photograph below depicts the official opening on ANZAC Day, April 25, 1923. The local newspaper reported "an impressive unveiling ceremony" opened officially by Colonel Scott C.M.G., D.S.O. A.D. Lowerson V.C. also addressed the crowd and was a member of the firing party of returned servicemen."
Myrtleford's Cherished Daughters
Military Nurse Elizabeth Rothery
"Nurse Elizabeth Rothery trained for her profession at the Ovens District Hospital, Beechworth. She became a midwife at the Melbourne General Hospital and at the outbreak of war in 1914 was working at the St. Kilda Base Hospital. She had enlisted in the A.A.N.S. when she heard of her brother Norman's death at Gallipoli on November, 1915
"Early in 1916, Elizabeth left for overseas military service, sailing to Bombay on HMAT Mooltan in September. In India, Elizabeth nursed wounded and dying servicemen from the battlefields of Mesopotamia and Palestine. She then transferred to Bagthorpe Military Hospital, England and in July 1917 joined the hospital ship Nestor on a repatriation voyage to Australia, arriving at Melbourne in September.
"In January, 1918 Elizabeth embarked on the hospital ship Karoola for Capetown, South Africa and then Egypt. The return journey to Australia attending to sick and wounded in stifling heat below decks, exhausted her. After a short stay with family in Myrtleford, she went to visit friends at Beechworth where she died suddenly of acute appendicitis on June 18, 1918.
"Her military funeral at Beechworth followed with "a most touching and remarkable demonstration of public grief and admiration". Several months after her death her saddened father Joseph planted a Kurrajong seedling in this area as a living memorial to his eldest daughter.
"As the tree aged it needed to be replaced and in the 1980s a new tree was propagated and flourishes as a memorial to Elizabeth to this day."
Alice Margaret O'Donnell A.A.N.S.
"Alice O'Donnell was born in Myrtleford to a well known Myrtleford family and educated at the local State School. On leaving school, she was employed in banking. In 1928, she commenced training as a nurse and became a ward and theatre sister at several leading Melbourne hospitals.
"In 1941, Sister O'Donnell joined the A.I.F. as a charge sister at Heidelberg Military Hospital and was then selected to join medical staff on the newly commissioned 3AG Hospital Ship Centaur. At 4.10 am on May 14, 1943, the unescorted Centaur was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine 60 kilometres off Brisbane, on its voyage north to retrieve wounded from the New Guinea campaign. Sister O'Donnell was one of eleven nurses lost in a total casualty list of 300. Only 64 crew and medical staff were rescued.
"At the time of Alice's death two brothers were prisoners of the Japanese and three others were serving with the A.I.F."
Visited: 1414, Wednesday, 18 May, 2016