War Memorial Pavillion
Williams Road
Narrogin WA 6312
A suggestion that Narrogin build a memorial was first raised in July 1915 when the Bishop of Bunbury, Dr Goldsmith, proposed that a projected new Anglican church be dedicated to the memory of the district's citizens who died in the war. In agitated exchanges of'letters to the press' it was pointed out that many of those likely to be named on any memorial tablet might be other denominations or of no denomination!
In 1916 the idea of a memorial institute was raised in the local council, and also a soldiers''rest house' to accommodate the physically and psychologically wounded. Discussion of the likely duration of the war followed and what number of seriously afflicted might be reasonably anticipated.
But in March 1917 a substantial piece of land that had served as a police paddock was set aside to become a memorial precinct to preserve the memory of those 'soldiers from the electorate who had fallen and those likely to fall in the present war'. The block, situated next to the primary school, would accommodate a structure that would exercise'an ennobling influence' for 'the rising generation' and on generations to come.
Discussions continued in 1918 and the idea of a building to include an art gallery and an exhibition of relics of the war eventually resulted in the building of the present Returned Services Institute.
Narrogin built a substantial 'temple' in the classical Greek style in which to display its Great War honour roll. The foundation stone for the structure was laid on Anzac Day 1922 by Lieutenant Colonel Olden DSO, who lead the 10th Light Horse when Damascus was captured in 1918.
Situated in an expansive park in the centre of the town, the memorial pavilion precinct has a cenotaph as its centrepiece, a square column about 1m high. Facing west, a copper honour roll lists Narrogin's fallen of the Great War, with individual brass plates for each name. In 1953 names of those who died in the Second World War were added on the east side of the column.
War trophies and field weapons have been sited around the pavilion. One of these, a muzzle loader from the period of the Boer War, was presented to Narrogin in 1913 and originally placed outside the Town Hall.
References
- Narrogin Library holds a number of local history books, several of which deal with the construction of the war memorial park and pavilion.
- Memorial 1: Narrogin and World War One, Maurie White, 1993 (place of publication/publisher unknown)
- The Aiming Post - Issue 4/200 & 1/2001. http://www.artillerywa.org.au/archives/2000_4.pdf
- Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company. http://artilleryhistory.org/artillery_register/directory_of_allocated_war_trophies_ww1_western_australia.html
- The Aiming Post - Issue 3/2000. http://www.artillerywa.org.au/archives/2000_3.pdf