“…that he lay down his life for his friends”

Chosen for its elevated location on 32 acres of parkland known as Kings Domain is a shrine. It is a quiet setting to remember 60,000 Australians who lost their lives in the Great War. Located in Melbourne, Australia, the Shrine of Remembrance was paid for mostly by public contributions. Its design is based on one of the Seven Wonders of the World – the tomb of Mausolus (the Mausoleum) at Halicarnassus. It is a massive pyramid shaped structure with wide steps and classic porticos.

Each of more than 200 memorial trees bear plaques dedicated to individual Army units, naval vessels, or Air Force squadrons who fought in the Great War. They mark the service of sacrificed generations.

The War Horses Memorial is a granite horse trough located near the entrance which marks the contribution of horses to Australian battles. Nearly one million horses died during the First World War.

The Driver and Wipers Statue reflects personal experience of war. The Driver is holding a whip with bridles for two horses, wearing jodhpurs, spurs and a protective gaiter on his lower right leg. He has a steel helmet for protection against shrapnel. The Wipers statue illustrates a war-hardened British infantry soldier from the Front, standing guard with standard issue .303 rifle, bayonet fixed. He is dressed for winter and has a gas mask around his neck. Bullets have left their mark on his helmet.

Shrine guards keep watch over the Shrine 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They dress in WWI uniform of the 4th Australian Light Horse, complete with emu feathers tucked into Slouch Hats.

Internal Features

At the entry court yard are the words “Lest We Forget” etched into a wall. The red shapes near the entrance represent the first living thing to grow in the ravaged battle fields of Europe at the end of World War I. Recall the famous poem, In Flanders Field, by Lt. Colonel John McCrea, MD?

The Crypt is a regimental memorial housing the flags of the units and battalions which took part in the First World War. It also contains the imposing “Father and Son” sculpture representing two generations of Victorians who served in the two World Wars separated by only 21 years.

The Sanctuary is the heart of the Shrine. “Bring your wounded hearts here tell your anguish”. Thousands do each year. The Stone of Remembrance, in the center of the sanctuary is symbolic of the gravestone for Victorian service men and women buried overseas in unmarked graves. The marble stone is sunk below the floor. One must bow one’s head to read the inscription: GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN. The words are borrowed from John 15:13: “No greater love hath man that he lay down his life for his friends”. It is arranged so that at 11:00 AM on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, a natural ray of sun light shines from an aperture in the roof onto the Stone of Remembrance. It illuminates the word Love. Can you imagine the effort and the hundreds of pages of astronomical and mathematical calculations to ensure the aperture was positioned so the sun would pass at the right time for the next five thousand years?

Around the Sanctuary walls are twelve frieze sculptures depicting the armed services at work and in action during the First World War. The 16 columns surrounding the Stone of Remembrance are like sentinels. They are made of marble and believed to be 300 million years old. Fossilized shellfish and coral can be seen in the marble. Each column measures 18 feet 8 inches high and 7.3 tons.

The Ambulatory surrounding the sanctuary has 42 bronze caskets containing Books of Remembrance with the names of all Victorians who enlisted and served. They are listed without rank.

The Balcony allows views of the Shrine reserve, the bay and many of Melbourne’s landmarks.

External Features

The World War II Memorial includes the Forecourt, Flagpoles, Eternal Flame and Cenotaph. At the pinnacle of the 41’ high Cenotaph are 6 service men in battle dress of the Navy, Army and Air Force, carrying a bier on which lies a dead comrade. The names of the theatres of war where each of the services fought in the Second World War are inscribed on the Pillar. The Eternal Flame was lit in 1954 and is always burning, symbolizing eternal life for those who served.

The Remembrance Garden – Post 1945 Memorial on the western side of the Shrine recognizes those who served in conflicts and peace keeping operations after the Second World War. The names of the conflicts are engraved in stone.

At the northeast corner of the Shrine is the Gallipoli Memorial. It is a small bronze statue of “The Man with the Donkey” representing “valor and compassion of the Australian soldier”. It is known as “The Man and his Donkey” as no individual is recognized by name at the Shrine. However, it is said to be modeled after Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick who took water to the front and brought wounded to the rear. A Turkish Pine was grown from a lone seed to commemorate the original Lone Pine at Gallipoli the site of intense fighting in 1915.

The Legacy Garden of Appreciation features red Flanders poppies. The sculpture of the mother and her children symbolize the work of caring for widows and dependents of veterans.


Sculptural and Architectural Features

Representing freedom is the statue called, “The Symbol of Glory” that sits atop truncated (pyramid) roof the Shrine of Remembrance. It is based on an ancient Greek trophy, the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates that still stands in Athens.

The northern tympanum represents “The Call to Arms” with a winged Goddess, symbolic of Mother Country, calling her children to defend her. The southern tympanum relives “The Homecoming” and Australia at peace. At the center are a youth and the horses of Neptune, representing the return from overseas.

These words are found on the western wall:

LET ALL MEN KNOW THAT THIS IS HOLY GROUND, THIS SHRINE, ESTABLISHED IN THE HEARTS OF MEN AS ON THE SOLID EARTH, COMMENORATES A PEOPLE’S FORTIUDE AND SARIFICE. YE THEREFORE THAT COME AFTER, GIVE REMEMBRANCE.