Cenotaph relocated without Digger statue
Faithe JonesThe statue was erected as part of the Chinchilla War Memorial, unveiled on 30 January 1919 by the Governor of Queensland, Major Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams, GCMG, CB.
The memorial is a smaller than life-sized sandstone statue of an Australian infantryman with cocked hat and rifle, resting against a tree stump for support (as did most of Queensland’s ‘digger’ statues). The statue stands on a remnant of the 1919 pedestal: a sandstone block with crossed flags carved on the front face - a common motif on First World War memorials.
Originally the Chinchilla War memorial was located in a small park near the footbridge over the railway line in the Chinchilla Street, being the main town centre.
In the 1970's the town centre had moved to Heeney Street, south of the railway line. In 1977, the Cenotaph was relocated to Fuller Place in Henney Street without the statue. The statue was later relocated by the RSL Women's Auxillary in 1992. The soldier had been vandalised so the Women's Auxillary raised funds to restore him as he is today.
The digger was removed from ANZAC Park near the railway overpass for safety reasons. It was then stored by the Historical Society at the Chinchilla Museum, and in 1992, the RSL Women’s Auxiliary rightly felt it was time to restore and replace it.
Names plates from the original statue have been incorporated into a new memorial.
