State Memorial
Undercroft
After WW1 a State Memorial was proposed for Forrest Place in the centre of Perth but the Commonwealth Govt.,the owners of Forrest Place,would not agree whilst the Perth City Council were more in favour of a Memorial that had a use for the community, such as a hospital, the Returned Services League wanted a stand alone monument, an idea not favoured by the then State Govt. It was not until 1925 that agreement was reached for a Memorial in Kings Park a State War Memorial Committee formed and an appeal for funds launched. In 1926 the Committee selected the Kings Park site overlooking the Swan River but donations were slow and by 1928 only one third of the estimated cost had been received leading to Archbishop Riley publicly calling for contributions to bring the project to fruition. The Archbishop's appeal produced an increase in donors but a significant shortfall still existed so the State Govt. agreed to meet the deficit so that the Memorial could be completed by 1929, the Centenary of the founding of the State. The State Govenor,Colonel Sir William Campion performed the unveiling ceremony on November 24th.,1929 with dedication performed by Rabbi D.I.Freedman. The Concourse in front of the Memorial was designed by the Commissioner of Town Planning,Mr.D.L.Davidson and constructed in 1932 by levelling an area known as 'the Butts' and removing two Naval Guns* sited nearby. In 2004 the Memorial was dismantled in order to renew the foundations. This photo was taken in late February,2005 as the base was being reassembled.In June the work was completed and the Memorial re-dedicated 1st. July,2005. On this day,also, the State funeral for Peter Casserley,aged 107,last surviving West Australian veteran of WW1 was held.
* 7inch muzzle loaders built by the Royal Gun Factory in 1866, after some years of service with the British Navy they were handed over to the Naval Artillery Volunteers, Fremantle to add to the State's defences, however they were never brought into service until in 1905 they were mounted close to the future Memorial site on steel turntables overlooking Perth Water. Being in the way of the Concourse construction they were sold for scrap (not with universal approval) but proved too difficult to cut up so were buried on site. In 1966 the guns were located by metal detector and dug up, one gun had part of the barrel missing but the other was complete. After renovation they were mounted on specially made wooden cradles and once more put on public view, this event being celebrated by a ceremony attended by some 3,000 people on 23rd.February,1969 at which blank charges were fired . In 2000 the wooden carriages were found to be in a bad state of repair so the Guns were,once again, removed from public access. It is hoped that,eventually, steel turntables of correct naval design will be constructed and the guns can be put on permanent show in the Park.