by Windsor & Districts Historical Society President Matthew Crook
Please just look at this Cenotaph, really look at it, take it in. For 100 years it has stood in vigil for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the first great war. Impressive isn’t it? For our little piece of Brisbane to have such a significant monument is really special. It was designed by Francis Hall and Allan Devereaux and built by Peter Frew. It is built with Brown Sandstone from Helidon to the west of here and the platform I am standing on is made of Brisbane Tuff from the quarry on the other side of the old Council Chambers. The Bronze lantern with the red light on the domed roof represents the eternal flame. On the floor in the centre is a marble plaque saying “erected by the citizens of Windsor in honour of the sailors and soldiers of the town who took part in the great war 1914 1918”.
Today is the 110th anniversary of that first ANZAC day in Gallipoli and the 100th anniversary of the unveiling of this memorial. We are not here today just to celebrate a milestone for a memorial, ANZAC day has a much greater purpose. This address is about why it is here, what it represented then and what it still represents today.
I would like to acknowledge my fellow committee members from the Windsor and District Historical Society, based just over there in the old Council Chambers, for their support in writing this address. I would especially like to acknowledge local historian David Teague for the research and publications I have drawn on significantly.
We are gathered on a prominent location here in Windsor in the inner north of Brisbane. The traditional inhabitants travelled past here for millennia. The areas of Kalinga Park, Breakfast Creek, around Alderley and along Kedron Brook and Enoggera Creek were all significant campsites. There is evidence Eildon Hill just here was used for burials.
The 1850s saw the first significant European settlement in this area and Bowen Bridge Road just here became the main route to the north. The Shire of Windsor was created in 1887, and it became a town council in 1904. Windsor included the suburbs of Windsor, Albion, Wooloowin, Wilston, Lutwyche, Newmarket and parts of Eagle Junction and Kedron. Grange became a suburb after WWI.
Did you know Bowen Bridge State School was located on this very spot for 50 years until 1916? There were 1000 kids enrolled here when it relocated just over the road to Windsor State School. There may be some symmetry in the fact many of the names on this memorial also went to school at this very location.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the town of Windsor only had 8970 people counted in the census before WWI. Incredibly from this community alone approximately 1100 men volunteered to serve. There are about 1100 people in attendance today. Think about that……
It was similar across Australia where over 416,000 volunteered from a total population of less than 5 million. To put this in perspective, for WWI to have the same impact today 2.5 million Australians would need to volunteer, 360,000 would die and a further million would be wounded……
In WWI, from every community our best did volunteer and every community, consistently, suffered the loss.
They were from all walks of life. In Windsor and across Australia, class, education, wealth or family history had little relevance to who enlisted and who paid the price.
It was not just manpower that communities contributed to the war. From the start, with the women doing the heavy lifting, Windsor was all in for supporting their men. For example, Windsor raised the money in 1915 to provide an ambulance at the front in France. Money was raised for the local Red Cross in addition to 5,600 warm garments and the provision of 50 beds, linen and clothing at the Rosemount Hospital just down the hill off Lutwyche Road.
The Scouts made walking sticks and 50,000 bandages and the Girl Guides provided Christmas gifts for soldiers. The Windsor and Wooloowin school children were fund raising as well. This level of support continued throughout the war.
Over 50,000 pounds was invested by the Windsor community in war loans, equal to over $6m in today’s money.
As the wounded started to return, the community cared for them. More money was raised for the Red Cross to help get the men home. In 1918 The Windsor community even built a house in Wesley St Lutwyche for Frank Barnett who had returned from the Western Front blinded in both eyes.
All this from a town only 10 years old and of less than 10,000 people.
And all the while, the news back from the war was not good and the worry…. the gnawing worry for loved ones was ever present. On average, every week a family in Windsor received the knock on the door from the postman with the dreaded telegram notifying them that their father, their son or their husband had died. Even more frequently they were notified he had been wounded or even worse that he was missing…… presumed dead…… a slither of hope…… probably not.
Finally, the war was over, and the men and women gradually returned. There was an official welcome in the grounds of Wooloowin State School in October 1919 but how could a community simply move on? Still reeling from the anguish and loss, Windsor was determined to create a memorial to those who had fallen that reflected this collective grief. Just as Windsor was all in for supporting their men at the front, this town was also all in for remembering them, and the closing of Bowen Bridge School in 1916 right here provided the perfect location.
The cost was 1,500 pounds and times were tough in those post war years. However, everyone contributed to raising the money led by a towering figure in our history. That person was William Jolly, an Alderman on Windsor Town Council through the dark days of WWI who became Mayor in the post war years before becoming the first Mayor and then Lord Mayor of Brisbane. With his wife Lillian they raised 7 sons who all served in WWII and who all maintained a strong connection with this area. I am grateful that many Jolly family members are here with us today.
Mr Jolly chaired the committee of Councillors and community members to raise the money and build the memorial. A Fete was held at Wooloowin School in April 1923, concerts were performed at Windsor School of the Arts, the local picture theatres ran benefit nights and the racecourse in Albion ran a sports carnival. These were just some of the activities the entire community engaged in to raise the money. Did you know they also secured a captured German Howitzer that was placed next to the Council Chambers in 1922? A great big thing it was. We think Tewantin RSL now has it.
Mr. Jolly also led the effort to collect the names of those who served from the area and those who died. This was a difficult task with the dislocation of war and a young and transient population. All names were recorded in a book now held in the Queensland State Archives. From this, Mr. Jolly created a booklet provided to all servicemen, copies of which we still have. 155 names of the fallen were included on the memorial honour rolls and there were later additions to take the number to 161. The Historical Society can provide information on all the soldiers who served, please just ask.
Finally, ANZAC day 1925, the memorial was unveiled by Mr. Charles Taylor, the State Member for Windsor. In his address he said “There is no doubt a tinge of sorry and sadness is in many hearts of those here today who long for the touch of a vanished hand and the sound of a voice that is still. There is this consolation for those who have lost their loved ones in the great struggle for freedom, that they died that we might live. This applies not only to those of us present this afternoon. but those who will take our place in the future”
We are today the people Mr Taylor referred to. This is now our Memorial as custodians. We have inherited the spirit of the WWI Windsor, and we will pass it on to future generations. The additional memorial and Flagpole Boxes in front of me has ensured this memorial honours all who sacrificed for us, in all conflicts and from all parts of our community.
You don’t have to have a family connection to the Windsor of 1925. From wherever you are from, from however long ago, you are here now, you are part of us. You are also a custodian of this memorial so use it to remember those who sacrificed in your past so you and your family can be here free today.
We are gathered in a special place. So visible, yet somewhat inaccessible. Remember what this place stands for when you drive past. Give thanks for those who came before, for those who sacrificed. Take strength from the community you are part of, let your memorial give you courage for whatever you are facing. Sometimes make the effort to visit, pause for a while and be at peace.
Lest We Forget