Bungendore and District War Memorial

The Bungendore and District War Memorial is a granite arch, accompanied by a 'Field of Remembrance' and a Peace Garden. Originally commissioned as the Soldier's Memorial, it was completed in April 1924.

The arch was designed by James Turner, a Goulburn based monumental and general mason. It is constructed of solid units of Southern Tablelands, Lochersleigh Granite. The surface is a combination of gang sawn and chiseled finish. It is comprised of a Romanesque arch, supporting classical architectural features. It has profiled springer stones, supporting tightly bedded voussoirs and key stone. The pillars with profiled bases support four polished, tightly bedded panels. The parapet above is ornately moulded.

The memorial was rededicated on 11 November 1999, subsequent to an upgrade of the Rolls of Honour, including the Second World War and post-1945 conflicts.

Anzac Day and Remembrance Day are both commemorated at the memorial. Anzac Day involves a dawn service and a main service. The main service incorporates a march up Gibralter Street to the memorial.

The Bungendore War Memorial Committee (BWMC) is responsible for the care and maintenance of the war memorial as a community asset.

• The Boer War Roll of Honour was added and dedicated 29 May 2011.
• The Post Gulf War Roll of Honour was added and dedicated 11 November 2011.
• The memorial seating, donated by Bungendore Community Aid Inc, was installed August 2013.

On 13 March 2018, soil from the memorial was collected for the NSW Government's Anzac Centenary Project to enhance the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney.

On Remembrance Day 2019, a Western Front soil and plaque dedication was undertaken at the memorial.

Restorations and upgrades

Restoration during August-November 2012 involved the following work completed: the old pine tree was removed, pavers replaced with stamped concrete, memorial roof sealed, the memorial itself soda-blasted, the gardens replaced, and new edging laid. This project was made financially possible with grants from the federal and NSW state governments.

Upgrades during August-November 2014 involved the following work completed:

1. “ANZAC Centenary 2014-2018” and ”Gallipoli” (Ross Bastiaan) bronze plaques to be mounted on the right hand granite plinth of the Memorial, and dedicated on Remembrance Day 2014. Bronze plaques commemorating the Rededication 11 November 1999 relocated to the Peace Garden. New photographs added to the Register Gallery.
2. Great War 1914-1919 Enlisted and Returned Roll of Honour (ROH) engraved to annotate those who were Killed in Action, Died in Service and not previously indicated as such viz: A. Carnell, W.J. Davis, J.A. Ford and J. McDonald. World War 2 ROH also amended to record that D. Kitcher Died of Illness. See Introduction below concerning use of the notation “Killed in Action. Died on Service”.

In 2020, a detailed inspection by Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council's Heritage Advisor Mr Pip Giovanelli revealed long term water seepage, deposits of efflorescence, and moss and lichen growth. Grants to undertake the necessary repairs and restoration due to the above issues were received with thanks from the Community War Memorial Fund from the NSW Office for Veterans Affairs and the Bungendore Community Bank.

Works were undertaken by well-known and experienced stonemason Joe Leahy & Staff, between 18 March 2021 and 15 April 2021. On completion, Mr Giovanelli inspected the memorial again and was pleased with the work, stating in his report "the project has progressed smoothly and has achieved a high conservation outcome, as befitting the quality of the structure."

Field of Remembrance

To be eligible for commemoration in the Field of Remembrance, the person for whom the cross is planted must have both:

• been a member of the Australian Defence Force, or a member of an Allied Defence Force;
• had strong ties to Bungendore and District either personally or through family connections.

Specially manufactured crosses will be provided by the Bungendore War Memorial Committee (BWMC), at a small fee, for individuals wishing to plant a cross in the Field of Remembrance.

Anyone wishing to plant a cross should write to the following for further details:

Secretary BWMC
c/- Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council
PO Box 348
Bungendore, NSW 2621

Hall of Service, Anzac Memorial – Hyde Park, Sydney

As a tribute to those from New South Wales who were lost in past and present conflicts, the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park now contains a Hall of Service. The eight walls of the hall display the home soil from 1,701 NSW towns, cities, suburbs and homesteads that were given as home addresses by First World War enlistees.

Soil from the Bungendore and District War Memorial was collected by Monaro MP John Barilaro on 13 March 2018, assisted by some members of the BWMC.

It should be noted that for a variety of reasons many of the Bungendorian enlistees' names may not be recorded on the Bungendore Memorial Roll of Honour.

Western Front soil and plaque dedication

The 2019 Remembrance Day service in Bungendore remembered those who fought and died on the Western Front during the First World War. Soil that had recently been brought home from cemeteries on the Western Front was dedicated and buried beneath the memorial arch under the plaque, as shown in Photo 21 in the gallery.

Listed veteran names

Soldiers who were born in Bungendore and District, enlisted there, or whose parents resided there at the outbreak of the various conflicts in which Australia has been involved, have been eligible to have their names added to the Roll of Honour (ROH). On occasions names were invited through newspaper articles or advertisements. There was sometimes uncertainty as to who was entitled to be included, and this has lead to confusion in later years when no other records could be found in the district for a particular person named on the memorial. Omissions also caused concern on occasion, and there are numerous examples of names that have been added at a later date, sometimes squeezed in. For WWII and later conflicts there were more complete records for servicemen and women, and the process of collecting names was a bit easier, but again some errors have been generated.

The use of the annotation + to indicate “Killed in Action” (KIA) alongside a Veteran’s name was not originally used on the Bungendore Memorial because the Great War 1914-1919 ROH had a dedicated KIA ROH. It has subsequently been used to address those whom were KIA, and also those who might not otherwise be mentioned as having failed to return, such as those who “Died on Service” as a result of Disease, Wounds or Accident.

South African (Boer) War, 1899–1902

The Boer War ROH Board, (presumed to be circa 1904), presently mounted in the Bungendore War Memorial Hall has been used as the basis for the names to 'perpetuate the Memory of Soldiers of Bungendore and District who served in the Boer War 1899-1902'. To have adopted any other approach would only have perpetuated the problems that have been experienced in respect of other conflicts recorded on the Memorial. Some of these issues have resulted in names of individuals passing through being included on the Memorial, and names of those who enlisted in places outside the District, being omitted.

See: BUNGENDORE & DISTRICT WAR MEMORIAL - SOUTH AFRICAN (BOER ) WAR 1899-1902 ROLL OF HONOUR. Peter Hugonnet 2011. ISBN: 978-0-646-55612-3

World War I – Killed in Action

Glenda Ellis in 'Our Soldiers Bungendore and the Great War' discusses the WWI veterans on the ROH in great detail, and notes that four Bungendorians who did not return are included on the World War I Enlisted and Returned ROH.

See: OUR SOLDIERS BUNGENDORE & THE GREAT WAR. Glenda Ellis. 2007. ISBN:978-1-74027-487-6

World War I – Enlisted and Returned

Originally names on the ROH were restricted to those who had enlisted from Bungendore only, and this caused problems because that meant there are names of people passing through who were included, and names of those who enlisted in places such as Gulgong, for example, who didn't. It seems that they finally accepted those whose Next-of-Kin were Bungendore residents, past or present. It is understood that the builder of the Memorial in 1924 used as his reference the ROH then existing in the School of Arts, so any ‘error’ was perpetuated. For example, Arthur Carnell is listed with those “Enlisted and Returned”, when in fact he was killed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. This particular error has since been rectified.

World War II

Bungendore WWII ROH is displayed on both arches of the Memorial facing the park. On the left-hand side facing the Memorial, the ROH is titled 'In Memory of the Fallen & of Those Who Served in World War II 1939-1945', and the names recorded thereunder are those of WWII veterans.

On the right-hand side of the arch the ROH is titled 'In Memory of the Fallen & Those who served In Malaya 1950-1960,Korea 1950-1953, Borneo 1963-1966, Vietnam 1962 -1973, The Gulf 1990-1991, and the names thereunder are again those of WWII Veterans, albeit those that served in Vietnam and the Gulf are listed separately under the names of those two conflicts. It could appear to the casual observer that all those listed on this particular ROH served in Malaya, Korea and Borneo and perhaps in all three conflicts, however this is not the case. It is thought that the names on the WWII ROH have generally been derived from the ROH Boards presently on display in the Bungendore War Memorial Hall, and the names of Veterans of World War 2, Korea and Vietnam as listed in 'Bygone Queanbeyan' (revised Edition 1983) by Rex L. Cross ISBN 09591096 0 9. Again it is considered that there are some errors in both these records that have now been documented in the NSW Register of the Bungendore & District War Memorial.

Post First Gulf War conflicts

Names to be added as required noting the following criteria for inclusion of names on the ROH:

Individuals who have died during, or as a result of service while a member of the Australian Defence Force, Post First Gulf War 1990 -1991 (the last conflict presently recorded on the existing Bungendore War Memorial), or as a result of that service; and have died during, or as a result of service in a conflict or operation that is either, classified by the Department of Defence as warlike, or classified by the Department of Defence as non-warlike or peacetime (humanitarian), and which the Australian War Memorial (AWM) Council agrees is appropriate for inclusion on the AWM Roll of  Honour under the heading ‘Operational Service’; and have died between the defined start and end dates of that service; or died within two years of returning to Australia from that service; and have been born or  a resident of the Bungendore District (generally as defined by the 2621 Post Code) on enlistment in the Australian Defence Force or at the time of death.

Any names added to the Bungendore & District War Memorial Post First Gulf War ROH Plaque, in the context of ‘Operational Service‘, as defined above, shall be identified as ‘Operational Service’ to maintain consistency with the AWM Policy.

Proposed road naming project

In September 2015 the Bungendore War Memorial Committee (BWMC) agreed that an unsolicited road naming proposal should be made to the Palerang Council, as an initiative in supporting the Centenary of ANZAC 2014-2018.

It was proposed that Council in pursuance of Section 162 of the Roads Act 1993 consider using the names of those members of the local community who are remembered on the Bungendore and District War Memorial Roll of Honour as having been killed or died in the Great War:

The priority assigned to each name initially reflects those who died at Gallipoli, followed by those who died elsewhere, in alphabetical order. 

It was further recommended that the road name signs utilised by Council should carry the Third Approved Rising Badge (approved 10 May 1904) to specifically identify these particular roads as commemorating members of the Bungendore and district who are remembered on the Bungendore Memorial. This logo should also be applied to the road names recently used by Council to commemorate Great War Diggers on the Bungendore War Memorial.

3 November 2015 the BWMC applied to Army Branding to use the Rising Sun badge on the foregoing proposed Road Names in the town of Bungendore as part of the Centenary of ANZAC Commemorations. This request was approved on 21 December 2015.

As at 15 March 2016 the BWMC is liaising with the Palerang Council to incorporate the Rising Sun Badge on the proposed Road Names and particularly those that have that have already been implemented to date namely: Carnell, Finch, McKay and Hopkins.