City’s war dead get new voice
— Stephanie Keays
TOOWOOMBA’S key historical preservation groups have joined a push to honour service personnel whose names have been missed from major city memorials.
Details of errors on the city’s main memorial boards and the Mothers’ Memorial have been unearthed by a dedicated team of researchers who have used modern computer records to uncover details of Diggers whose names have been misspelt or omitted.
Both the Toowoomba and District Historical Society and the Toowoomba branch of the National Trust of Queensland believe the record should be corrected, but agree that the existing memorials should not be touched.
National Trust branch secretary Stephanie Keays said it was wonderful to see the interest this group of people have in the accuracy of the memorials and the fact that they were following up with such detailed historic research.
“I think there is no question that these people need to be recognised in some way, as that is of course the whole intent of the memorials in the first place.
“The question about how to best include these names is not so easily answered and the erection of the Mothers’ Memorial in particular represents a specific moment in time.
“It would involve understanding the original intent for the names included and, of course, the design and physical aspect of the memorial and how much space is available for additional names,” Ms Keays said.
She said the Mothers’ Memorial was a more difficult issue than the RSL Honour Boards due to its design.
“Perhaps, a secondary monument may be more appropriate. This could also potentially capture the story of how these names were originally missed and how they came to be rediscovered.
“This in itself is a fascinating story reflecting the social history and record keeping of the 1920s as well as that of today,” she said.
Toowoomba Regional Council’s landscape architects within the Parks and Recreation Department have an overall design concept for the Memorial Precinct in Margaret St and their input, along with that of council’s Heritage Adviser Michael Scott, would also be invaluable in determining the approach to take.
The Soldiers’ Hall is on the State
I think there is no question that these people need to be recognised in some way, as that is of course the whole intent of the memorials in the first place.
Heritage Register and the Department of Environment and Heritage have highly qualified and experienced staff who would be able to assist in the approach that is most respectful of the honour boards and memorial entry hall.
As changes and corrections have been made to these in the past this is probably a good indication that other changes can be made, provided they met the appropriate state guidelines.
Ms Keays said that the discovery of these additional names also offered the opportunity to find new ways to present the memorial information.
“It would be lovely to have more recognition of the people listed in the memorial at the original site of the Mothers’ Memorial, as well as at its current site,” she said.
“With modern technology like QR codes, which have been used so effectively in the flood mosaic memorial plaques for example, there is an opportunity to present the individual stories of those included in the memorials in detail, rather than simply being a name on a list.
“This could help make the memorial come alive to those of the 21st century who have no memory of conflict on the scale of WW1.
“The stories already featured in The Chronicle articles to date indicate just how interesting these individual stories can be. Other images and information about elements such the recruiting drives, actual battles, contemporary media coverage and the impact of WW1 on mothers and families could also be included.”
Historical society president Maurice French agreed, saying it would be inappropriate to amend or alter the existing memorials.
However, he believed the service personnel could be honoured by a new board near the rolls of honour at the Soldiers’ Hall and a smaller separate memorial in the parkland near the Mothers’ Memorial.
He also agreed that the story behind the research would also be of interest as could the stories about the errors, such as incorrect names.
The errors, particularly on the First World War records, could have occurred for various reasons. It was a time without computers when records were sometimes handwritten and in diverse locations.
As well, people with German surnames sometimes anglicised their names on enlistment, soldiers became estranged from families or did not return to Toowoomba.
Responsibility for the Mothers’ Memorial rested with Toowoomba Regional Council as it was originally presented to its predecessor, Toowoomba City Council.