An initiative of The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) in conjunction with The University of Melbourne
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Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial
Details
The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial located at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens features a granite wall listing the names of Australian Prisoners of War (POW). The listing is by surname and initials and shown by war. Between the Boer War (1899-1902) and the Korean War in the 1950's 34,737 Australian servicemen and women (59 World War II nurses) were incarcerated in POW camps.
The monument, designed by sculptor Peter Blizzard, is intended to provide ex-prisoners of war, their descendants, visitors and future generations with a reflective experience.
The design of the POW monument uses the basic idea of a journey through and an experience of time and place. The start of the pathway is long and straight heading off into the shape of railway sleepers, a reference to the Burma Railway. Running parallel to the pathway is a polished black granite wall, 130 metres long etched with the names of all Australian POWs. Standing in a reflective pool are huge basalt obelisks up to 4.5 metres high with the names of the POW camps. The columns are out of reach and across the water symbolizing that all the POW camps were away from Australian shores. Further on, there is another wall with the words 'Lest we Forget' engraved, allowing for an area of contemplation and reflection after the "journey".
The Memorial's dedication took place on 6 February 2004.
Sources used to compile this entry: http://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=197&h=1 accessed 2003-09-29, http://www.ballarat.com/memorial.htm accessed 2003-09-29 and http://minister.dva.gov.au/media_releases/2001/august/ballarat.htm accessed 2003-09-29.
Anne Heywood
Created: 29 September 2003, Last modified: 5 June 2009
http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0569b.htm
