The Australian War Memorial is Australia's main memorial to honour soldiers who died in wars. It is located in Canberra.
Charles Bean, an Australian historian of the First World War, first came up with the idea for a memorial to Australian soldiers when he was researching military battlefields in France in 1916. As early as May 1917, the first collection of items relating to Australian military history was assembled and first exhibited in Melbourne. The permanent building for the Memorial was completed in 1941, after the Second World War had already broken out. The official opening took place on 11 November - Remembrance Day. Today, the Memorial is considered one of the most important monuments of its kind in the world. It is located near the Parliament building, from whose balcony a circular panorama of the monument can be seen.
The memorial consists of three parts: a Mausoleum with a Hall of Remembrance housing the tomb of an unknown Australian soldier, a museum and a research centre. The Hall of Remembrance is laid out in the shape of an octagon, with mosaics on the four walls - north-west, north-east, south-west and south-east - depicting a Soldier, Pilot, Sailor and Servicewoman. Interestingly, the mosaics and stained glass windows were created by a one-armed Australian artist, Napier Waller, who lost his arm in World War One. In front of the Hall of Remembrance is a narrow courtyard and a small pond with an eternal flame in the centre. Above the courtyard is a long covered gallery with the Board of Fame - bronze plates inscribed with the names of 102,000 Australian servicemen who died. Each day, when the Memorial closes in the evening, a small ceremony is held where those gathered can hear a short history of its creation and listen to the military turn signal before evening dawn.
Many people consider the Australian and New Zealand Armed Forces Square (ANZAC Parade) to be part of the memorial complex as well, but this is not the case. The square is located near the northern shore of Lake Burley Griffin and leads to the base of the Memorial. Along each side of the square are a number of sculptures commemorating a variety of military campaigns, such as the Vietnam War, or the memory of the Sisters of Mercy. Near the lake itself are monumental sculptures in the form of two giant basket handles, donated by New Zealand. The idea for the sculptures was inspired by a New Zealand Maori Aboriginal saying that speaks of the traditional co-operation and closeness of the two Commonwealth countries.
