Both elegant and dynamic, the Double Bay War Memorial in harbourside Steyne Park consists of a Bowral trachyte pillar, featuring four Corinthian columns with bronze capitals, positioned on a stepped base. Standing atop the pillar is the sculpted image of an Australian soldier. This bronze figure is a replacement, with the original by William Macintosh being on display in the Australian Army Infantry Museum in Singleton, following restoration after vandalism (see image 2 above). The sides of the pillar are inscribed with the names of those who served in the First World War.
The statue carries the affectionate name 'Big Red'. He is described as the quintessential infantry soldier: tough and determined, yet also vulnerable. A ragged bandage hangs around his head, but undaunted by this wound his weight is on the balls of his feet, both hands firmly gripping his bayoneted rifle, mid-thrust in the heat of combat. Even the sculpture’s shell-torn base is complete with the remains of a German Pickelhaube helmet crushed under the soldier’s foot. A similar image is shown on the cover of 'The Anzac Book' (see image 3 above).
The original Big Red from Double Bay is thought to be the first memorial sculpture in Australia erected by a local community following the First World War. The memorial was dedicated on 2 August 1919. To the casual viewer, the statue is an illustration of the tenacity and toughness of Australian soldiers, a symbol of victory and a testament to communal grief. However, the image of Big Red is not original. The sculpture is a reinterpretation of an illustration drawn 20 years earlier, not for the First World War, but for the Anglo Boer War, fought by Australians between 1900 and 1902. Titled “A Gentleman in Khaki”, the illustration was created by Sir Richard Caton Woodville, the Late Victorian Era’s pre-eminent painter of battlefield scenes.
Young soldiers mobilised to fight in South Africa would frequently face a pay-cut, as Army wages were lower than those available to labourers, and a network of charities soon emerged to aid the families of servicemembers off to war. Woodville’s illustration was printed to accompany music books for the song 'The Absent-Minded Beggar', the lyrics of which were written by Sir Rudyard Kipling and set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. Kipling’s lyrics stir listeners who are happy to “shout rule Britannia and (sing) God Save the Queen” to accompany rhetorical support with the practical support of giving money to soldiers’ causes.
Unlike Big Red, the Gentleman in Khaki is standing taller, his rifle is cradled in one hand as he feeds ammunition into the breach. While his head is also bandaged, the scene has less urgency than that of Big Red, and while it still implies combat, there is less sense of close combat with the enemy.
Australian Historian Ken Inglis’ book In Sacred Spaces is the most comprehensive study into Australian war memorials and describes Double Bay's as “the most belligerent of all the First World War memorials.” While this may be true, the figure of Big Red is far from a unilateral expression of militarism. Instead, it pays tribute to all the communities who have come together to support soldiers, both those leaving for war and those returning. The Double Bay War Memorial is therefore a perfect summary of war memorials: sacred spaces to pay respect for the achievements of service men and women, and a focal point for the communities who support them.