The memorial
This war memorial fountain features a sculpture of a hand holding a grenade, with a sprinkler at its apex. The sculpture sits above a large water collection dish, with four equidistant spouts, and a fish pond at ground level. There is a planter boxes at each corner of the pond, with a pebbled area around its perimeter. Inscribed on two marble tablets fixed to the fountain base are the names of Cowra Railways Depot employees who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars.
The memorial was built in 1925 by staff at the then new Cowra Locomotive Depot, using parts from steam locomotives in service at that time. The main water collection dish was an upturned steam locomotives smokebox door, while the central column was built around a framework formed from locomotive spark arrestor wire. The memorial was dedicated on Armistices Day 1925 by Mayor of Cowra Municipal Council, Alderman E.P. Todhunter.
A photograph taken in 1932 shows the fountain initially did not have the apex above the collection dish. While the date of the addition cannot be confirmed, it may have been erected at the time of the positioning of the second (western facing) marble plaque dedicated to the memory of railway staff who died in the Second World War.
The memorial was fully refurbished in 2015, which included upgrading the water collection dish with marine fibreglass. An interpretive sign listing the railway and military service details of the veterans recorded on the memorial was unveiled on Anzac Day 2015.
A Lone Pine was planted near the memorial on Anzac Day 2017, in honour of local railwaymen Syd Marsden and Matt Mulcahy, who are recorded on the memorial and died in 1915 while fighting on Gallipoli. The tree was planted by Mayor of Cowra Cr. Bill West and Mrs Pam Lynch, using the ceremonial spade that turned the first sod on the Blayney - Cowra rail line in 1885.
The memorial is located in the garden at Cowra Locomotive Depot. It is currently managed by UGL Linx on behalf of Transport for NSW. It has been leased to the Lachlan Valley Railway Co-Operative Society since 1986.
The entire Cowra Railway precinct, known as the Cowra Railway Station and Yard Group, is listed on the State Heritage Register.
About the veterans
At each Anzac Day service, the following details are read about the veterans on the memorial.
First World War:
1. Private William Robinson Hood - Cleaner Harden Locomotive Depot (on loan to Cowra)
- Born - 27 October 1890
- Joined the Railway - 13 July 1914
- Enlisted in the AIF- 16 December 1915
- Posted to the 17th Infantry Battalion and left Australia on 5 June 1916
- He died in action at Villers-Bretonneux in France on 15 May 1917, aged 26.
- His cousin Allan Hood, of Macquarie Street in Cowra, was killed on the same day.
2. Private Sydney Bryant Marsden - Fireman Cowra Locomotive Depot
- Born - 22 June 1894
- Joined the Railway - 17 October 1913
- Enlisted in the AIF- 25 September 1914. Service number 501.
- Posted to the 3rd Battalion AIF
- Landed at Gallipoli - 25 April 1915
- Died in action at Lone Pine, Gallipoli, between 6-13 June 1915, aged 21. His body was never recovered.
3. Private Matthew Michael Mulcahy - Fireman Harden Locomotive Depot (on loan to Cowra)
- Born - January 1889
- Railway record unavailable
- Enlisted in the AIF - 27 August 1914. Service Number 955.
- Posted to E Company – 3rd Battalion.
- Landed at Gallipoli - 25 April 1915
- He received a special mention in despatches for acts of conspicuous gallantry and valuable services while acting as a stretcher bearer between 25 April and 5 May.
- On 5 May, while carrying a wounded officer under heavy machine gun and rifle fire, he was wounded in the hip and left upper arm. He was evacuated to No.1 Australian Military Hospital in Heliopolis – Egypt and died of septicaemia and exhaustion on 8 May, aged 26 years.
Matthew is incorrectly recorded on the memorial as J Mulcahy.
- John Thomas Mulcahy - Pumper Cowra Locomotive Depot
- Joined the Railway in 1909
- Transferred from Cowra to Eveleigh Workshops 29 August 1916
- Retired from Eveleigh Workshops - 17 August 1943
- Incorrectly recorded on the memorial
4. Private Lawrence Rupert Mulvihill - Fireman Harden Locomotive Depot (on loan to Cowra)
- Born - 25 March 1890
- Joined the Railway - 6 July 1912
- Enlisted in the AIF - 23 October 1916
- Posted to 55th Infantry Battalion, he left Australia on 11 November 1916
- He acted as a stretcher bearer during the battle of Passchendaele and was killed on the night of 19 October 1917, when a German shell landed in the dug-out in which he and seven other men were sleeping. He was 27 years old.
5. 2nd Corporal Frederick Charles Poole - Fireman Cowra Locomotive Depot
- Born - 21 October 1887
- Joined the Railway - 25 October 1910
- Enlisted in the AIF - 8 August 1918
- Posted to 2nd Australian Light Railway Operating Company as a driver
- He died from pneumonia in No. 40 Stationary Hospital Le Havre, France, while awaiting repatriation to Australia on 13 February 1919, aged 31 years.
Second World War:
6. Flight Sergeant Roy Cramp - Porter Cowra Railway Station
- Born -11 November 1920
- Joined the Railway - 24 January 1939
- Enlisted in the RAAF- 22 May 1942
- Posted to 61 Squadron RAF
- At 11.05pm on 8 October 1943, Flight Sergeant Roy Cramp, tail gunner in Lancaster bomber DV239, took off from his base at Syerston in Nottinghamshire, England. His aircraft was one of 504 bombers bound for Hannover. Just over two hours later, the bomber crashed on to a housing estate in the Hannover suburb of Hamholz. The cause of the crash is unknown but was assumed to have been anti-aircraft fire. All crew members were killed. Flight Sergeant Cramp was aged 22. It was his 5th mission.
- However, German records reveal the aircraft was probably shot down by Leutnant Kummer (1) of Stab II./JG 301 flying a BF109G-6a. Leutnant Kummer claimed a Lancaster at 1.24am five kilometres northwest of Hannover. This was probably Lancaster III (DV239) "QR-V" of 61 Sqn, RAF flown by P/O R Coulson, all killed.
7. Private John Patrick Jordan - Railway Record is unavailable
- Born - 19 August 1908
- Enlisted in the Australian Army - 3 November 1939
- Posted to 2/4 Australian Infantry Battalion
- John was killed in action by a dive-bomber attack during evacuation from Crete on 29 May 1941, aged 32.
- John's surname is incorrectly listed on the memorial as Jordon.
8. Flight Sergeant Gordon James Matheson - Call Boy Cowra Locomotive Depot
- Born - 18 February 1922
- Enlisted in the RAAF - 31 March 1941
- Posted to 148 Squadron RAF
- At 9.30pm on 30 September 1942, Flight Sergeant Matheson, wireless operator/air-gunner, in Vickers, Wellington, 1c bomber HF848, took off from Landing Ground 237 in Libya to attack Tobruk Harbour. The aircraft was hit over the target and crashed. All crew members were killed. Flight Sergeant Matheson was aged 20.
9. Flight Sergeant Reginald Thomas McCudden - Junior Clerk Cowra Railway Station
- Born - 29 May 1923
- Enlisted in the RAAF - 24 April 1942
- Posted to 57 Squadron RAF
- On 23 September 1943, Flight Sergeant McCudden was the mid-upper gunner on Lancaster bomber DV201, one of 628 aircraft sent to attack the German city of Mannheim. His aircraft, piloted by F.J. Austen, took off from East Kirby in Lincolnshire, England, at 7.09pm. Approximately three hours later, it crashed near Rheinberg. All crew members, except the tail gunner, were killed. The cause of the crash was never determined. Flight Sergeant McCudden was aged 20. The average age of the crew was 21.