Shrine of Remembrance

From ArticleWorld

Located in St Kilda Road, the Shrine of Remembrance was built as a memorial to the World War 1 Victoria personnel. Later, however, it began to be revered as a memorial for the 60,000 Australian WW1 martyrs and now it is regarded as a memorial for all Australians who served in war. This has also become the site where ANZAC Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November) are observed every year.

History

Though the proposal for this shrine was first put forward in 1918, it wasn’t till 11 November 1927 that the foundation stone was laid by the Governor of Victoria, Lord Somers. Though contributions for the construction came from both the Victorian and Commonwealth governments, most of the fund was raised by public contributions. This was personally handled by Monash, who was a civil engineer before 1914. Construction began in July 1928. When the Shrine was completed in September 1934, it was formally dedicated on 11 November 1934 by the Duke of Gloucester. This event is believed to be the largest ever in Melbourne with the presence of a 300,000 strong crowd. Later Additions After World War II, the World War II Forecourt (a wide expense of stone in front of the Shrine's north face), the Eternal Flame (a permanent gas flame set just to the west of the north face) and the World War II Memorial (a 12.5 m high cenotaph a little further west) were added to the structure. The Remembrance Garden, complete with a pool, a waterfall and a granite wall, was added beneath the western face of the Shrine in 1985 to honour personnel of the post-WWII conflicts.

Administration

The Victorian Government appointed a Board of Trustees to manage the affairs of the Shrine. This board looks after the administration, management, maintenance, preservation and development of the Shrine. The Shrine's security has been considerably stepped up in recent years and a group of Victoria Police guards are constantly on duty here.