Sydney Memorial

The Sydney Memorial stands in Sydney War Cemetery, which is situated about 17 kilometres west of Sydney. By road the route is along the Great Western Highway (Parramatta Road), turning south into Marlborough Road which continues direct to the cemetery. The War Cemetery itself is in the grounds of Rookwood Necropolis, and the main entrance is at the western side, on the necropolis roadway. The Memorial is one of several which commemorate men of the Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and the Australian Merchant Navy who lost their lives in the south-west Pacific region during the 1939-45 War, and who have no known grave. The men commemorated on the Sydney Memorial were lost in the eastern and southern regions of Australia and in adjacent waters south of Latitude 20 degrees South. The Memorial is in the far right corner of the cemetery and takes the form of a semi-circular colonnade, standing on a terrace which is approached by three shallow steps. The piers of the colonnade carry on their inner faces bronze panels bearing the names. Some 750 names are recorded. Around the continuous frieze above the piers is the following dedicatory inscription: 1939 - HERE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO DIED IN THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN REGIONS OF AUSTRALIA, ON LAND, AT SEA, AND IN THE AIR, BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH - 1945.