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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
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The Marrickville 'Winged Victory' World War I m...

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

The Marrickville 'Winged Victory' World War I memorial, c1919

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Australian War Memorial

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War Memorials for World War I

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Memorials Sculpture War World War I

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Marrickville

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Marrickville War Memorial

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Australian War Memorial

War Memorials for World War I

The shocking losses of Australian servicemen and women in the Great War prompted communities across Australia to find ways to memorialise those who died, and honour those who served. As no centralised authority drove or coordinated this task, the form of each memorial reflects the community that raised the funds to build it. Balmain was the first suburb in Australia to erect a war memorial, but in time, the towns, suburbs, workplaces and institutions of Sydney found a way to fulfil the covenant 'we will remember them.'

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Marrickville

Inner-western residential suburb with an industrial heritage on the Cooks River, named after the Marrick estate of Thomas Chalder which was subdivided in 1855. The post-Second World War period saw the influx of mainly non-English speaking people, attracted by the availability of factory work and cheap housing.

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Marrickville War Memorial

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Originally a large granite pillar set on a rectangular granite base, atop which was a four-metre high bronze sculpture of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike. The original sculpture held a wreath and raised sword. The memorial commemorated the more than 450 Marrickville residents who died in World War I and was unveiled before a crowd of 15,000 in 1919. The crumbling memorial was removed in 2009, and in 2014 the sculpture was donated to the Australian War Memorial. Another similar design was commissioned and unveiled in April 2015, featuring Nike with the sword at rest. Victorian sculptor Darien Pullen said 'I was chasing an image of peace and sacrifice'.