Stained Glass #1 - Hall of Memory
Australian War Memorial
Campbell, Canberra, Australia.
The Australian War Memorial is located at the foot of Mt. Ainslie in Campbell, Canberra.
The War Memorial is unique as it is both a museum and a shrine.
The Memorial was founded to commemorate the 60,000 Australians who died in WWI (1914-1918).
Since the Second World War it has been updated to include the remembrance of fallen Australians in all military conflicts.
The AWM was the vision of Charles Bean (1879-1968) who was a journalist & Australia’s Official War Correspondent in WWI.
Bean served at Gallipoli & the Western Front & witnessed first-hand the terrible battles during the First World War.
Charles Bean later became Australia’s war historian and edited much of the ‘Official History of Australia in the 1914-18 War’.
Bean approached the Australian Government with his idea for a memorial & they accepted the proposal.
An architectural competition was held in 1927 but failed to provide satisfactory single design.
Two of the entrants in the competition, Emil Sodersten & John Crust, were invited to submit a joint design.
This incorporated Sodersten’s vision for the building & Crust’s concept of cloisters to house the Roll of Honour.
The construction of the building was completed in 1941.
The Australian War Memorial was officially opened on Remembrance Day, at 11am on 11th November 1941, by Governor-General Lord Gowrie.
The AWM is a sandstone building of Byzantine architectural style with art deco elements used throughout.
The floor plan of the memorial is in the shape of a cross.
John Treloar (1894-1952) is another important figure in the history & realisation of the AWM. Treloar also was part of the Gallipoli landing.
In 1917, as a Captain, he was appointed as head of the newly created Australian War Records Section in London.
After the war John Treloar devoted his life to the Australian War Memorial.
He was appointed Director of the Memorial in 1920 and served in this position until he passed away, apart from a brief period during WWII.
The Australian War Memorial consists of four sections:
The Commemorative Shrine Area that includes The Hall of Memory that contains the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier.
The Memorial’s Galleries which are a museum. Thirdly, The Research Area where records are maintained.
There is also an outdoor sculpture garden.
At the entrance of the Memorial are two medieval stone lions that once stood at the gateway of the Menin Rd at Ypres in Belgium.
Ypres, in the County of Flanders, was the site of several major battles in WWI. The lions were presented to the Memorial in 1936.
Stepping through the front entrance you find yourself in the Commemorative Area.
Directly ahead in the Courtyard is the Eternal Flame & Pool of Remembrance.
Flanking both sides of the Courtyard are a series of arched sandstone cloisters.
This is where the Roll of Honour is found. Here, inscribed in bronze is the name of virtually every one of the 102,000 Australians that has died in war since 1885.
Paper poppies are inserted into niches to honour the fallen.
At the top of the Commemorative Courtyard is the awe-inspiring Hall of Memory with its copper-clad dome.
The Hall of Memory is a tall domed chapel with a floor plan in the shape of an octagon.
At the centre of the hall is the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier.
The unknown Australian soldier was brought home from a cemetery in France to eventually lie in the tomb. He represents all Australians that have been killed in war.
The walls of the hall are covered by one of the world’s largest mosaics, comprising over six million enamelled glass tiles.
The four pillars behind the Tomb represent the four ancient elements: fire, water, air, and earth.
Three of the walls facing east, west & south feature ornate stained glass windows representing the qualities of Australian servicemen & women.
The four walls that face southeast, southwest, northeast & northwest feature mosaic images of an airman, soldier, sailor and a servicewoman.
The mosaics and stained glass are the work of one-armed artist Napier Waller, who lost his right arm during WWI. He completed his work in 1958.
In the dome of the Hall is an intricate mosaic depicting the souls of the dead rising toward their spiritual home, represented by a glowing sun within the Southern Cross.
Sources
Australian War Memorial website.
Wikipedia website.