Goondiwindi War Memorial

A towering soldier statue, now found in Goondiwindi’s Town Park was one of the most expensive soldier monuments of its time marking World War I in Queensland. Governor Sir Matthew Nathan unveiled the six metre high memorial in September 1922, while in the south-west border town to observe an eclipse of the sun.

The life-sized grey sandstone soldier, standing on top of a red and grey polished granite column, polished blocked trachyte pedestal and a stepped concrete base, cost £1,800 and was located in Herbert Street at that time.

The designer is unknown. The pedestal carries the gilded names of 325 locals who enlisted in WWI-providing invaluable insight into the community’s involvement in the war. Of those, 54 (about one in six) died, underscoring the devastating impact the conflict had on a young nation.

The soldiers’ monument was relocated to the park in 1949. At this time, a set of gates were erected as a WWII memorial, unveiled by Sir Thomas William Glasgow, a Gallipoli survivor who went on to stand up to high-ranking British officers in France, refusing their command to surrender at Villers-Bretonneux.