Box Hill (Nunawading Shire) Soldiers’ Memorial: A short history

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Owen Genat

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A memorial hall and club rooms.

An inaugural meeting was held by the Nunawading Shire Council on the evening of Thursday, 20 February 1920, with a view to erecting a “memorial hall and club rooms for the returned soldiers of Box Hill and district.”[1] Articles in these first few months were invariably titled Box Hill Soldiers’ Memorial but this would later change. The Shire felt it was lagging behind the movement to erect a suitable memorial for returned soldiers with a view that other centres had “already made much headway in the erection of memorial halls.”[ibid.] The overall sentiment and situation was summed up in the Box Hill Reporter article (p.5):

“Until the ultimate goal has been achieved and a fitting memorial at the disposal of the local ‘Diggers,’ the same enthusiasm is desired in order to fully accomplish the original intention of erecting a building to immortalise the deeds of the sacrifices made by the large quota of men sent by this district to the Great War. There is at present no complete commemoration of any sort of the valiant local volunteers who went forward to fight, and if needs be die, in response to their country’s call.”[ibid.]

The meeting was however especially successful in spontaneously raising more than £200 via collecting cards, essentially “a ‘promise to pay’ a given amount towards the movement.”[ibid.] A full list of donations was published in the following issue of the Reporter.[2]

A memorial of solid stone, with the names inscribed.

By late April however a distinct change in the form the memorial should take was being proposed.[3] At a special meeting of Nunawading Shire Council on the night of Thursday, 22 April 1920 a “proposed loan, in connection with the erection of a soldiers’ memorial in Box Hill”[ibid.] was the topic of discussion. As beautification of the “ovals in White Horse road,”[ibid.] which were the small public gathering spaces between the divided lanes running east and west, were being discussed, they were subsequently raised as a possible site for a memorial. Cr. Garrett stated these ‘ovals’ were:

“the best place it was possible to have a memorial, but if they were laid out first the whole thing would have to be re-considered. It should be a joint affair, and he suggests that the Box Hill members take the question in hand, even if it cost £1000. He did not think a club house would be a true and lasting memorial but one made of solid stone, with the names inscribed ther[e]on, would be indestructible. Box Hill was practically the centre of the shire—it was the capital, anyway, as far as the municipal headquarters were concerned and it should be the site for the memorial.”[ibid.]

Cr. Ellingworth also appeared in favour of a stone monument, rather than a hall or club rooms, indicating that “in travelling about one was struck by the very fine lasting monuments which had been erected.”[ibid.] While opinions were divided over whether to consider the development of the ‘ovals’ in Whitehorse Road separately from the memorial or not, it was generally agreed that “a sum of £300 would not be sufficient to provide a proper memorial for the soldiers, and the laying out of the ovals as well, [however] it was eventually agreed that the sum of £300 be placed on the loan schedule for the improvement of the ovals.”[ibid.]

One Shire memorial or many riding memorials?

By mid-June the matter of the memorial was still protracted, with a further meeting of Nunawading Shire Council on the night of Tuesday, 8 June 1920, discussing “whether a shire memorial should be erected to the fallen soldiers of the district, or separate monuments in parts of the district instead.”[4] Articles from this point onwards dropped the original Box Hill Soldiers’ Memorial title in favour of either Nunawading Shire Memorial or Nunawading Soldiers’ Memorial, which is indicative of the discussions occurring at this time. There was again much dissent with regard to some ridings erecting their own memorial, with the Mitcham Welcome Home Association being the foremost example, as they had already raised £100 to this end. The most striking comment from the meeting being that:

“Cr. Ellingworth was strongly in favour of a shire memorial being erected. This matter had been on the paper for a considerable time, and they should decide what they were going to do. In a matter of that sort it was never intended for anything in the shape of five memorials to be erected, as the soldiers did not go to fight for Mitcham or Burwood, but for Australia and the empire. A memorial should be paid for out of the revenue of the shire, and if it were found necessary to impose an additional 1d. or 2d. rate to raise the funds required that should be done, as they would all agree that those who always did give and were willing to do so would be called upon to bear the whole of the expense. That was the only way of doing it, as otherwise dozens would not contribute 1/-.”[ibid.]

The end result was an amendment (which succeeded) to a movement (which failed) being “moved by Cr. Roughton that the council affirm the principle of one central shire memorial to be erected in Box Hill, as the centre of the shire.”[ibid.]

A memorial in the central Whitehorse Road ‘oval,’ facing Station Street.

Just a couple of weeks later at the next meeting of Nunawading Shire Council on the night of Tuesday, 22 June 1920, “the president (Cr. Blood) moved that the shire memorial (decided on at the previous meeting) take the form of a monument to be erected in Box Hill at a site to be selected. He said he would prefer it in the central oval, facing Station street. [...] From the discussion at the last meeting it was desirable to have one central memorial for the shire, and they should have something worthy of the men who did such noble deeds on the other side. Their names should be engraved in the best granite that could be procured. A separate rate would be about the fairest way to raise the money for this object, as then everybody would be compelled to do their little bit towards it.”[5] There was further discussion about other ridings also erecting their own monuments, with Mitcham again raised as the primary example, as “it had been decided to erect a monument [in Mitcham] at a cost of over £400.”[ibid.]

This appears to be the first mention of the memorial being placed to the east of Station Street in the wide central median strip of Whitehorse Road, an area commonly referred to at the time as the ‘ovals.’ It is not until several months later at the meeting of Nunawading Shire Council on the night of Tuesday, 12 October 1920, that a firm recommendation was made that the “proposed memorial be erected in [the] west end of [the] oval in White Horse road, Box Hill, which is situated immediately to the east of Station-street.”[8] This later (22 October) published account of the meeting also repeated details that were first published in advertisements in both the Argus and the Age of 18 October:

“Designs for a Sailors and Soldiers’ Memorial at Box Hill are invited. The cost of the memorial to be about £1000, including the inscription thereon of, approximately 600 names. Designs to be accompanied by complete specifications and an estimate of the cost, as well as an undertaking by the designer to, if required, enter into a formal contract for the carrying out of the work at the price stated. Time required for the carrying out of the work to be suited. Closing date for submission of designs, 10th November, 1920. The council does not bind itself to accept any of the designs submitted. A prize of £10/10/ will be awarded for the selected designs.”[6,7]

This advertisement was repeated again on 20 October (Argus, p.4; Age, p.3), 21 October (Herald, p.19), 23 October (Herald, p.28), and 17 November (Argus, p.17). Despite the 10 November 1920 deadline for submissions, the process of deciding on a design was clearly not straightforward.

A design selected, including a figure in Italian marble.

It was not until several months later, in early 1921, at a meeting of Nunawading Shire Council on the night of Tuesday, 1 February that “Designs of a soldiers’ monument were submitted to the meeting of Nunawading Council on Tuesday night, and one which had been selected by the committee was accepted. The monument, which is to contain the names of fallen soldiers from the shire, is to be erected in the ovals in White Horse road, Box Hill. The total cost will be £811 8/6.”[9] Further details on the design were published a month later:

“The memorial committee reported that after careful consideration of the amended design submitted by Messrs. Huxley, Parker and Co., for the memorial and the details and specifications for same, the committee decided that the design and specifications be adopted, and that a formal contract for the carrying out of the work be prepared, in order that it may now be proceeded with. The quotation for the work, including the cutting of 1000 letters, is £811 8/6.—Adopted.”[10]

Despite all the earlier talk by the Nunawading Council of loans and levying a rate to cover the cost of the memorial it appears to have been completely financed through public fundraising. In April a multi-day carnival was held at the Box Hill Show Grounds, from Saturday 23rd to Tuesday 26th, expressly for the purpose of raising funds for the “Nunawading Diggers’ Memorial.”[11,12] Perhaps due to the slow fundraising, or the fact that the figure surmounting the monument was in marble imported from Italy, it was not until nearly the end of the year that “Cr. Hunter said he had learned from Messrs. Huxley and Parker that the soldiers’ monument for Box Hill had arrived, and was ready for inscription and names. He [moved] that this information be [seconded.] The top figure was of marble, and had just been landed from Italy. Cr. Young seconded the motion. [Carried.]”[13]

The monument erected and unveiled.

By early February 1922 the Nunawading Soldiers’ Memorial “erected in White Horse road, Box Hill, in memory of the lads from Nunawading Shire who fell at the war, has been greatly admired. It is a beautiful work of art, the figure being of snow white marble and representing a bugler sounding ‘The Last Post.’ The memorial rests on a granite foundation, and presents a commanding appearance. Engraven in the stone is a suitable inscription, together with the names of those who died in the service of their country. The unveiling ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 19, and will be performed by the Governor-General, Lord Forster. The gathering should be a memorable one in the history of the shire.”[14] A similar account was published in the Argus of 13 February.[15]

The day after the unveiling of what this time is referred to as the Nunawading Memorial a summary account of the event was published:

“In the presence of a large number of people His Excellency the Governor-General (Lord Forster) unveiled the Nunawading Soldiers’ Memorial in White Horse road Box Hill, yesterday afternoon. The memorial, which was erected by the Nunawading Shire Council as a tribute to the sailors and soldiers who enlisted from the shire for active service in the war, is a white marble figure of a bugler. The president of the shire (Councillor J. R. Ellingworth) said that of 595 men who enlisted from the shire 93 had fallen. After unveiling the memorial, Lord Forster said that it gave him deep personal pleasure to take part in any services commemorative of those men who died in the war. It was also his duty to show that the King had never forgotten the services rendered by the Australians. The monument was the figure of a soldier sounding a bugle-call, and it depended on the minds of the people as to what call it should be. It might be The Last Post, or the call that rang, throughout Australia during the war—the call to duty. There was still need for personal service. One could do service to Australia by joining the citizen forces or by becoming a scoutmaster. By joining organisations for the promotion of immigration for the developing of the great resources of Australia, one could help to serve Australia. Prayers were offered by representatives of the churches in the shire. After The Last Post had been sounded, Lady Forster asked to be introduced to the relatives of the soldiers who had fallen.”[16]

The memorial remained on the east side of the intersection of Whitehorse Road and Station Street in the median reserve until at least the 1950s. It remains to be confirmed when it was moved from this location to the present one in the Box Hill Gardens, about 450 metres north-west.

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