| Historical notes: | Coastal Aboriginal people who lived around Sydney lived off the rich plant, bird, animal and marine life surrounding the harbour for tens of thousands of years. Within the City of Sydney local government area, the traditional owners are the Cadigal and Wangal bands of the Eora. Their ancient lifestyle was catastrophically upturned when the site was chosen by Governor Phillip for an English penal settlement in 1788.
One and a quarter centuries later, the independent nation of Australia volunteered to help Great Britain when it declared war in 1914, and despatched troops to fight in what soon became known as the Great War (later known as World War I). Australians fought in the Middle East and Europe. Casualties were severe. By the time of the Armistice in November 1918, of a total of 331,781 enlistments who had embarked for overseas, 215,585 service personnel, a proportion of nearly 65%, had become casualties. Many of these men had died rather than being wounded (Scott, 1941, p 874). Grief was widespread across the community.
Due to a delay in the completion of the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, the Cenotaph was built in Martin Place to serve the needs of people who needed a focus for commemoration and mourning for the sacrifices of the Great War. In November 1924, the Sunday Times reported a plea by Fred Davison, a senior RSL member. He advocated building a memorial in Martin Place where so many appeals and recruiting rallies had been held during the war, and where so many commemorative events had been held since the end of the war. Hugh D. McIntosh, proprietor of the Sunday Times persuaded the new premier J.T. Lang in 1925 to set aside 10,000 pounds to erect a cenotaph.
Unlike most other war memorials in Australia, the Martin Place Cenotaph, meaning 'empty tomb', does not name individuals, but instead mourns and commemorates the communal sacrifice of lives lost at war. It was based an Australian reworking of a new type of memorial developed in London by Edwin Lutyens for Whitehall in 1919 as a 'tomb on pylon, inscribed only with words composed by the Prime Minister, Lloyd George, 'The Glorious Dead' '. Installed temporarily to be saluted by troops of the empire during the victory march through London on 19 July 1919, the London Cenotaph spoke so powerfully to bereaved people that Lutyens had to make it again in stone' (Inglis, 1998, p 155).
It was unusual for the State Government to fund a war memorial, since almost all memorials were organised and funded by voluntary committees rather than by government. However, Jack Lang had opposed conscription during the war and had been involved in anti-imperialist movements. Promoting a new image of himself and his government as 'the Soldier's Friend' was one response to the growing strength of veterans' organisations (Inglis, 1999, pp 298-9). Positioned where so many recruiting rallies and wartime events occurred, the Cenotaph was directly linked to the events of the Great War.
The 'Memorial Committee' of the State Government, City Council and ex-service organisations oversaw the project. A proposed competition to design the Cenotaph did not eventuate because Premier Lang instead approached sculptor Sir Bertram Mackennal when he was visiting Sydney from England and commissioned him to undertake the work. A contract was signed with Mackennal on 9 March 1926 (Tranter, 2004. p 102). Mackennal had designed the tomb of Edward VII at Windsor and the medals for the Olympic Games of 1908. He also constructed the statues of Cardinal Patrick Moran and Archbishop Michael Kelly which stand at the southern end of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (Franki, 2000)
For the Cenotaph in Martin Place, Mackennal designed a 'chunky rectangular form guarded by a soldier and sailor' (Inglis, 1998, p300). It was a more modest version of a sculpture he had designed for a cenotaph in Brisbane, which was never built. It was disliked by some critics at that time, such as Building magazine's George Taylor who charged that it was 'a mere tombstone for people to put wreaths up against'. The artist Margaret Preston admired the 'stern simplicity' of the stone slab but objected to the realism of the servicemen. Mackennnal's depiction may have been influenced by the sculpture designed for the Royal Artillery Memorial in London by Charles Sargeant Jagger, whose figures were also realistic rather than stylised (Inglis, 1998, pp 300-1). The designs for the figures were also criticised for being 'at ease' without their arms reversed - the normal mourning stance for military personnel at memorial ceremonies. Mackennal responded: 'Memorial not a tomb. Figures not mourning. Guarding altar of remembrance.' (Tranter, 2004, p 102). In the words of Ken Inglis 'it may have been the very blankness of Mackennal's Cenotaph... that allowed so many people over the years to feel comforted in its presence' (Inglis, 1999, p 300).
In March 1927, Mackennal arranged for Dorman Long to erect the granite pedestal and JJC Bradfield (who was on the Memorial Committee) to supervise. There were 23 stones in the pedestal all carefully arranged so that any white or black markings would not be noticeable (PWD, 1927, p 55). The main block of granite came from the Moruya quarry of Dorman Long & Co, where on 9 July 1927, Bradfield oversaw the cutting of the granite. All the dressing and lettering was completed at Moruya by Bill Benzie and Mr Joe Wallace. Italian stonemason Fueravante Cadiccio came to Sydney to erect it (Raxworthy, 1989, pp 91-2). State Records NSW holds photographs of the granite block being prepared at Moruya (NSW NRS 12685). Similarly, there are photographs of the positioning of the main slab with a block and tackle using Yale Spur-geared Blocks (Mitchell Library SV1/MON/CEN/1 & 2).
The monument was designed with the images of two servicemen cast in bronze on either side of a central plinth, topped by a bronze wreath. They were modelled on two real returned servicemen. The soldier was based on Private William Pigott Darby who had served at Gallipoli while the sailor was based on Leading Signalman John William Varcoe who had served in the RAN (Inglis, 1999, p 301). Private William P Darby was born on 25th April 1872 in Monasterevin, Co. Kildare, Ireland. He served in the US Army during the Spanish-American War and in 1914 then enlisted in the AIF at Toowoomba. He was actually 42 and not 38 as he stated on the form, presumably if he was over 40, he would not have been accepted into the army. He was part of the ANZAC force that landed at Gallipoli on 25th April 1915, the morning of his 43rd birthday and served as a stretcher-bearer with 15 Infantry Battalion and later 4 Field Ambulance. He was part of the ANZAC force that served at The Somme, where he was blown up and deafened in a shell explosion on 12th August 1916. He returned to Australia in January 1918 and was discharged as a Lance Sergeant, ending his AIF service as a medical orderly at the military hospital at Randwick, NSW. He died in Queensland at the age of 63 (Furphy, 1999; Register of War Memorials in NSW online). Leading Seaman John William Varcoe, RAN, was born at Baker's Swamp, NSW in 1897. He entered the RAN on 3 June 1913 and trained in Training Ship Tingara. Varcoe was drafted to HMAS Cerberus and HMAS Pioneer before joining the destroyer HMAS Parramatta in 1917. By then a signalman, he served in Parramatta until 20 July 1919. The destroyer was one of six RAN River Class destroyers based at Brindisi, Italy. On 15 November 1917, an Italian steamer, Orione, was torpedoed while on passage from Valona to Brindisi. Parramatta took Orione in tow and, while setting up the tow, the two ships were again attacked by a submarine. Parramatta continued with the tow until relieved by a tug. Varcoe had been aboard Orione and for his efforts in maintaining communications he was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal. He was discharged from the Navy at Sydney on 8 April 1928 (Franki, 2000)
A ceremony of dedication had been held on 8 August 1927. The completed memorial was officially unveiled by NSW Premier Thomas Bavin on 21 February 1929 with a speech by Sir John Monash (SMH, 22 Feb 1929, p 12, 16).
The Dawn Service arose from events during the erection of the Cenotaph. At dawn on Anzac Day, 25 April 1927, five returned men happend upon an elderly woman laying a wreath at the still incomplete Cenotaph. Impressed by the solemnity of the moment, they convinced the secretary of the Australian Legion Mr E. A. Rushbrook MBE to conduct an official service at dawn at the Sydney Cenotaph on 25 April 1928. Conceived as an opportunity to lay wreaths and remember the Anzacs in silence, it began at 4.30 am, at the time when the first Anzacs had landed at Gallipoli. It was not advertised but attracted 150 people in its first year. Public interest encouraged the organisers to invite the president of the Returned Soldiers' Sailors' Imperial League of Australia (later renamed the Returned and Services League or RSL), Dean Talbot, to offer a prayer at the service. By 1930 a crowd of 2,000 attended and a bugler was added. The following year, the Governor's presence made the dawn service even more official. Most of these elements are retained in the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Sydney's Cenotaph, which still attracts large crowds every year (Government Architect's CMP for the ANZAC Memorial, 2007). When historian CEW Bean attended the 1931 Dawn Service at Wellington NSW, he observed that holding the service at this time was appropriate since dawn was usually the hour when the major battles of the Great War had commenced (Inglis, 1999, p 329-32).
The idea of the Dawn Service has been extended to other states as well. The rising sun with its promise of a bright new day, the memory of the tension of waiting for the whistle blast that signalled the order to advance and the rising sun badge which Australian soldiers of the AIF wore on their slouch hats brings a complex imagery into play at every Dawn Service. Since the first Anzac Day ceremony was held at the Cenotaph in 1928, it began to emerge as the major focus for mourning and commemoration in NSW.
The Cenotaph has gained a sacrosanct place in the history of war memorial services in NSW. Furthermore it is not only a focus for Australian mourning and memory. Visiting dignitaries often place wreaths on the Cenotaph. On 4 July 1942, for instance, US troops stationed in Australia laid wreaths on the Cenotaph on their Independence Day, in memory of the US troops who died in the defence of the Philippines (AWM photo, P00561.001 - P00561.009; SLV photo H.2000.200.1441).
A proposal to add sculptures of an airman and a nurse in 1962 did not come to fruition. Many people, even former aircrew, agreed that it was more powerful as a simple symbol for all rather than as naturalistic representations of everyone who had served (Inglis, 1999, p 390). Another proposal in 1954 to shift the Cenotaph came to nothing, though some chains were installed around it and the plinth was enlarged (Inglis, 1999, p 420). A City Council photo of 11 August 1966 showed bollards had been installed by this date (NSCA CRS 48/5593). Peace groups and feminist organisations opposed to aspects of the Anzac legend from the 1970s onwards have focused their protests on the Cenotaph at Martin Place (Inglis, 1999, p 466). The conversion of Martin Place into a pedestrian plaza from the 1960s onwards reduced threats to the monument from traffic. |
