Walcha soldiers who enlisted and fought in the Great War are to be honoured as part of a stunning artwork at the refurbished Anzac Memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park the Member for Tamworth, Kevin Anderson announced on Monday.
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Walcha and 39 other locations across the Tamworth electorate are among 1,699 NSW towns, suburbs and localities where soldiers enlisted from for the Great War. As part of the Anzac Memorial Centenary Project, soil samples will be taken from these sites and displayed in the Hall of Service as part of a permanent artwork by artist Fiona Hall.
Mr Anderson said the local community will be engaged to participate in the collection of soil or attend an event to witness soil being collected as the Anzac Memorial Centenary Project Soil Collection continues.
“This project is collecting soil from 1,699 locations across the state from where Australians enlisted for the First World War.
“It is about bringing our state together to remind ourselves that people from all areas of NSW answered the call to defend our country and continue to do so.
“We should be proud of all of those from our region who served in the First World War, and to have them recognised in this artwork at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park is a great honour.”
Minister for Veteran Affairs David Elliott collected the first sample of soil at the Bathurst War Memorial Carillon at a ceremony on Monday.
“The Anzac Memorial is the state’s principal memorial to all Australians who have served, and collecting soil from sites from where men and women across NSW came from reminds us that this memorial belongs to everyone,” Mr Elliott said.
The Anzac Memorial upgrade will be complete in late 2018.
