Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is a memorial obelisk built in 1921, designed by an unknown architect. It is made of pink Peterhead granite and features a bronze moulding at the base of the shaft. The tall shaft has a pyramidal top and is set on an inscribed plinth that rests on a two-stage base. The base of the shaft is made of cast bronze and is decorated with anthemion motifs. Military badges are displayed on the sides of the plinth. The front of the memorial is inscribed with the words: "TO THE GLORY OF GOD WHO GIVETH US THE VICTORY AND IN MEMORY OF BRAVE AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS WHO AFTER TAKING PART IN THE GREAT WAR NOW REST IN HAREFIELD CHURCHYARD." The rear of the memorial bears the inscription: "THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED BY SIR FRANCIS NEWDEGATE KCMG NOW GOVERNOR OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND FORMERLY OF TASMANIA HONORARY COLONEL ELEVENTH BATTALION COMMONWEALTH MILITARY FORCES AND CHARLES ARTHUR MORESBY BILLYARD_LEAKE ESQ OF HAREFIELD PARK AD 1921."

Historically, Harefield Place, the ancestral seat of the Newdegates, served as an ANZAC hospital during the First World War. This obelisk is the centerpiece of the military cemetery and is surrounded by many scrolled headstones marking the graves of soldiers who died from wounds while being treated there. It is important to note that this memorial was privately erected, rather than by the Imperial War Graves Commission.