ANZAC SHRINE

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 78, 29 September 1934, Page 15

ANZAC SHRINE

SYDNEY'S MEMORIAL

SYMBOLIC DESIGN

(From "The vPosfs" Representative.) .SYDNEY, September 22.

Visitors to Sydney cannot but bo impressed with tho massive pile of masonry that stands so prominently in Hyde Park, in tho centre of the city— the State's memorial to the men and women of Anzac. This structure, rising to great heights, with statues of wartime figures' clinging to its sides, is quite unlike any other building in the city. In its imposing strength it seems to symbolise the spirit of the nation when the Empire called.. It compels admiration, and must for, ever remind the generations to come of that strenuous period when the fate of nations was in thej balance. Finishing touches are • now being placed on the Shrine for the opening ceremony that: will be performed by Prince Henry as his most important duty when he reaches Sydney, and as the scaffolding and. litter are removed from the interior'it' becomes easier to visualise the aspect that, will be presented'by'this great, memorial. You climb a marble stairway and step out ion to a broad gallery circling tho 'walls. Over the balustrade you look down; into the sculptured group, '' Sacrifice." Then the' eyes will turn to the magnificent dome, 89 feet above the pavement. It.is aglitter with small golden stars, one for every man and woman who went to the-war from.New South Wales., There are 120,000 .of them, and they sprinkle the dome as the stars do the sky—thickly at the zenith and more sparsely towards the horizon. . Four-great niches break, the wall above the gallery pavement. One is dedicated :to each of .the four areas that became famous during tho war— Gallipot France and -Belgium, New Guinea and the High Seas, Egypt and Palestine. In the floor of each nicho is sot*1 aVetone • frqm some, distant land of battle; while ..the names of famous battles, are carvedVon the walls. Thus for Gallipoli you read:"The Landing, Krithia, Lone Pine',, Sari Bair, Hill6o, Evacuation.','■ In this Hall of Memories aro set four tall ambef windows, whose design is the ..Rising Sun of. the A.1.F., with the winged torch of Liberty and the flames;of Sacrifice. The walls bear four sculptured panels representing the, Navy, Army,. Air Force, anti Army Medical Corps, and. behindtheir bolder figures the marching dead are shown in bold relief.

The Bed Cross is commemorated on tho design of the : doorway of the Archives Boom! -: • Many elements of symbolic design are employed for the interior,: such- as the Wings of Time and the Flaming Sword of Sacrifice. Through the north' door opens a fine vista^the Pool of Reflections and the lawns and avenues Of the newly-con-structed :Hyde Park. Everywhere there is fashipned marble, and the mood of the memorial isl coolness and quietude.