Desert Mounted Corps Memorial

Statement of Significance

Mt Clarence WWI Monuments, comprising Desert Mounted Corps Memorial, Lone Pine Memorial Tree, Padre White Memorial Lookout and Avenue of Honour, cast from that, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
It is situated on Corndarup/Mt Clarence being one of a group of significant geographic elements in Albany that form part of the local Menang Noongar creation story and as a place of mythological significance;
The various memorials located on Corndarup/Mt Clarence combined commemorate Australian and New Zealand soldiers who served and died during World War One, the importance of Albany as the port of departure for many of the troops and represent the way in which this significant event has since been annually acknowledged;
Desert Mounted Corps Memorial, originally erected in Port Said and mounted on a granite cenotaph, displays artistic excellence;
As a National War Memorial, the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial is highly valued by the local community and the nation at large, and is further enhanced by the presence of the Lone Pine Memorial and Padre White Memorial Lookout;
Lone Pine tree is significant in its connection to the original pinecones brought back from Gallipoli, the site of one of the most important and devastating battles for Australian and New Zealand forces;
Padre White Memorial Lookout has historic significance as the site of one of the earliest memorial services performed in Western Australia;
Avenue of Honour is significant as a mem¬orial to local soldiers who fell in times of war with each tree com¬mem¬orat¬ing a single soldier, and as an important and reflective approach to the monuments at the top of Corndarup/Mt Clarence;
and,
The place, being the memorials and the location of Corndarup/Mount Clarence, is important for its landmark quality and one of the group of significant granite mounts that are strongly identified with the geography and aesthetics of the Albany townsite.

Physical Description

Desert Mounted Corps Memorial is a bronze sculpture on a granite masonry cenotaph, around which is a low granite semi-circular wall. The sculpture is approximately 3 metre high and sits atop a granite clad column approximately 6 metres high and 2.5 metres wide. The area within the semi-circular wall is paved in granite slabs.

The style of the column, with its plinth and base and surrounding wall, is Inter-War Stripped classical. The composition is perfectly symmetrical and static. The bronze statue, in contrast, is dynamic and asymmetrical. Both however are monumental and formal in quality. The statue portrays an Australian trooper going to the aid of a New Zealander whose horse has been wounded. The statue is orientated so that all four figures, which are about twice life size, face north. The figures are arranged in three sculptural masses as follows. The eastern figure is a horse that has just fallen and is kneeling on its hind legs attempting to get up. The central figure is the rider of the fallen horse. He is walking forward in a determined attitude. The third sculptural mass is that of a horseman on his rearing horse.

The overall composition is such that the viewer’s eye is led from the kneeling hindquarters of the eastern horse, to the head of the central horseman, to the head of the mounted horseman to the head of the rearing horse. The statue is full of dramatic power and tension is finely executed.

Lone Pine Memorial Tree (a Gallipoli Pine) was planted in 1974 to commemorate the diamond jubilee of the first Australian troopships to leave Albany to take soldiers to serve in WW1. It is located on the same level as the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial just to the north-west.

Padre White Lookout, the site of one of the earliest memorial services performed in Western Australia, is a steel walkway structure with interpretive panels located at the top of Mt Clarence. The walkway is accessible on foot from the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial and curves in harmony with the surrounding rocks.

The Avenue of Honour follows Apex Drive, a bituminised road going from Forts Road almost to the summit of Corndarup/Mt Clarence, and which is lined with large Eucalyptus Robusta trees, each one signifying a soldier who fell in World War One, World War Two and the Korean War.

History

Corndarup
Corndarup is the Menang Noongar name currently assigned to Mt Clarence by Landgate, meaning ‘the place of the red berry’. The local Menang community also refer to the place as Koorntarrup or the place of koornt or huts.
Desert Mounted Corps Memorial
During World War One Albany was the assembly point for many Australian and New Zealand mounted troops before they left to fight in Egypt. On 4 August 1916, Brigadier General J. R. Royston, Commander of the 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade suggested that a memorial be erected at Port Said, in memory of Australian and New Zealand Mounted Troops who were killed in the Syria campaign.

The Desert mounted Corps Memorial was funded by the Australian government which contributed £10 000, the New Zealand government which donated £2 000 and the troops who contributed £5 400. A design competition was launched in 1923 that was won by Mr P. H. Meldrum and C. Webb Gilbert. Webb was awarded 200 guineas for his design. Architects commissioned to work on the memorial were Stevenson and Meldrum. Contractor Mr Roberts supplied Gabo Island granite for the base and screen wall. Webb Gilbert died in October 1925 and Sir Bertram Mackennal completed the sculpture.

In 1927, the Egyptian Agency of the Imperial War Graves Commission commenced work on the foundations at Port Said, which were completed in 1932. The memorial was unveiled on 23 November 1932 by the former Prime Minister of Australia, Hon William Morris Hughes. The memorial was damaged in the Suez Crisis on 26 December 1956. In 1959, the United Arab Republic agreed to ship the memorial back to Albany where it subsequently arrived in March 1960.

Howard Hartman, an Albany stonemason, was contracted to re-create the granite cenotaph. The cenotaph was reconstructed as much as possible from the salvaged material of the original memorial that had been shipped over. The markings in the stone from bullets were left as a significant as part of its story. Raymond Ewers from Melbourne was commissioned to re-cast the figures. In September 1962, the completed plaster cast was shipped to Genoa, Italy, for casing in bronze by the Battaglia Brothers in Milan. In July 1964, the new Mounted Corps statue arrived in Fremantle. Inside the stone monument, a series of timber posts and bearers had been erected to support the bronze statue. A timber form was then placed on top of this structure in jarrah decking, onto which was poured a reinforced concrete plinth. This was supported by the form and surrounding stonework. Whilst the concrete was still pliable, the bronze statue on casting plate was embedded into the still wet concrete.

The completed memorial was situated on Corndarup/Mount Clarence and unveiled by Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies on 11 October 1964.

In June 1985, vandals stole the bayonets attached to the memorial. Mrs June Hodgson, Mayor of Albany appealed to the public for their return and they were subsequently returned.

In preparation of the centenary of Anzac celebrations in Albany in 2014, the Corndarup/Mt Clarence memorial and surrounding landscaping was upgraded and improved as part of the development of the Albany Heritage Park. In 2017 conservation of the memorial (both cenotaph and statue) was undertaken by the City with the memorial being cleaned.

Lone Pine Memorial
On 2 November 1974 a Gallipoli pine tree was planted in the vicinity of the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee (60 years) of the departure from Albany of the first contingent of the First Australian Imperial Force after the outbreak of World War I. The soldiers landed at Gallipoli and named the location Lone Pine after a stunted pine tree, the scene of a major attack in April 1915. Two Australian soldiers, Smith and McDowell, brought back pine cones to Albany from the site and six trees grew from the seed cones of which this is one.

Padre White Lookout
Padre (Ernest) White served as an army chaplain with the 44th Battalion from 1916-1918 and upon his return to Albany to serve as Rector of St John’s Church where he delivered sermons in remembrance of locals who died in the First World War. In 1932, at dawn on the 25 April, he led parishioners from St John’s Church on a pilgrimage from the church in York Street to the summit of Corndarup/Mount Clarence, the very site where so many gathered to watch the convoys depart in 1914. He arranged a wreath to be cast into the harbour to coincide with the ceremony.
The lookout marks the spot claimed to be the site of the first ever observance of a Dawn Service on Anzac Day. A boardwalk and interpretation was installed to commemorate the site in 2014 for the centenary of the WWI.

The Avenue of Honour
The Avenue of Honour along Apex Drive features a grove of trees plan¬ted as a mem¬orial to local soldiers who fell in times of war. It was planted in 1955-1956 and replaced the original avenue of pines planted in 1921 in Middleton Road which was planted to honour those from World War One, with each tree com¬mem¬orat¬ing a single soldier. At the time of the planting Nurse M. C. Birt penned a poem in commemoration:
May every leaf on each green tree,
As changing seasons come and go,
Whisper our pride and sympathy
To name plates on their boles below,
And murmur one unending song,
In praise of those who marched along
Our Avenue of Honour
By the 1950s the avenue along Middleton Road had suffered con¬si¬der¬able damage with many trees in a danger¬ous state and re¬quir¬ing re¬moval. In 1955 while Apex Drive was being con¬struc¬ted on Corndarup/Mt Clarence, Ross Steel, a WWI veteran sugges¬ted re¬locat¬ing the Avenue to the new road, and ex¬pan¬d¬ing the grove to re¬pre¬s¬ent those who also fell dur¬ing World War Two and the Korean War. In 1956, the Albany RSL and Apex Clubs joined to plant a new grove of Eucalyptus Robusta trees, with each tree com¬mem¬orat¬ing a single soldier. At the base of each tree is the name of a soldier lost at war, with the orig¬inal plaques from Middleton Road re¬furbished and new ones added for the later con¬flicts. The Avenue is main¬tained by ded¬ica¬ted Albany RSL volunteers.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High
Authenticity: High/Moderate

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.