Perth War Cemetery: West Australian Garden of Remembrance

Statement of Significance

The Garden of Remembrance has aesthetic, historic and social cultural heritage significance. The Garden of
Remembrance is a way of giving official Government commemoration to those ex-service personnel whose
deaths, even many years after their service in 'the armed forces of the Commonwealth', result in some way
from such service or who meet special criteria and who are not officially commemorated elsewhere.

Physical Description

As at August 1998, there are approximately 10,200 official commemorative plaques (post World War II) of
eligible veterans at the Garden of Remembrance. During 1997/98 there was a substantial re-building
programme in the Garden of Remembrance, including construction of a pagoda like entrance statement.

History

Fronting onto Smyth Road, the Garden of Remembrance adjoins the Commonwealth WarhGrave Cemetery.
It was opened in 1966 by the Commonwealth Government (The West Australian 14t April 1966) to
commemorate ex-service personnel who 'died as a result of their service in the armed forces of the
Commonwealth' and whose 'remains rest in places where proper commemoration cannot be given or were
cremated and the ashes scattered' (wording on the main plaque). Examples of this are where a veteran has
been cremated and the ashes scattered or where the veteran has been buried in a place that does not allow
the standard official plaque. The Garden is a form of official commemoration pursuant to an Australian War
Cabinet decision of 10 March 1922 and reaffllliled and extended a number of times (Chinn 1996, pp. 5, 36).
It is an Australian Government initiative implemented by the Office of Australian War Graves and is a
function outside the Charter of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The Garden is for veterans
who have died as a result of war service (ie from war related causes or where certain other eligibility
criteria are met- see Chinn 1996,p. 25, 96). Their 'war service' comprises the two World Wars, Korea, the
Malayan Emergency, the Indonesian Confrontation, in Vietnam, or on peace keeping operations (Chinn
1996, p. 23).

Commemoration in a Garden of Remembrance is an alternative to other forms of official memorial, where
these are or cannot be provided (Chinn 1996, p. 96~9). The actual commemoration is done by small bronze
plaques mounted on the walls and inscribed with brief personal details of each individual. According to
Richards (1996, p. 350n) 'new plaques are continually being added ... with the passing of the ageing war
veterans'. According to Chinn (1996, p. 68) it was estimated that by mid-1997 'all the available walls in the
Western Australian Garden of Remembrance would be fully occupied by commemorative plaques'. The
Garden was therefore substantially refurbished and new walls erected; it was re-opened in November 1997. As
at August 1998, it was estimated that there were about 10,200 plaques in this Garden; a substantial proportion
relate to World War II but there are some relating to World War I and the inter-war period. Importantly, the
Garden does not contain remains or ashes.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.