The Cordalba War Memorial has a strong association with the local community, particularly as a focus for Anzac Day and Remembrance Day ceremonies, and is listed as one of Bundaberg Regional Council’s Local Heritage Places.
Cordalba was one of the first village settlements in Queensland, after being selected as the location for a village settlement scheme in 1888 and overseen by Queensland Minister for Land and Works Henry Jordan MLA.
The scheme, like most land acts in Queensland in the nineteenth century, was developed to encourage closer settlement of unoccupied land.
The conditions of the scheme meant that a selector took up 40 acres and had to erect a residence and make various improvements such as clearing and fencing, and in return they would receive an allotment in the village.
Cordalba War Memorial unveiled in December 1919
A public meeting was held in January that year regarding the erection of a memorial, and a soldiers’ memorial committee was elected.
The committee then selected the preferred site for the memorial, on land owned by the Railway Department.
The Department refused the request and offered another parcel of land, but the committee refused this.
The allotment on which the memorial now stands then came up for sale and the committee purchased it.
The committee then sent out a tender for the design and erection of the memorial to various monumental businesses in Bundaberg, Maryborough, Brisbane and Toowong.
The committee settled on Mr A. L. Petrie from Toowong, who in fact provided the most expensive quote.
Petrie was responsible for a large number of war memorials in Queensland after the war.
The committee initially decided to include both an honour roll and memorial together (the former to all those who served, the latter to those who fell).
However, following public discussion, it was determined that it should be a memorial only.
The memorial was then enclosed by a substantial fence designed by J Fairlie and Sons, Maryborough.
The committee then handed the completed memorial over to trustees acting on behalf of the subscribers to the memorial, who intended on using the remaining funds raised for the work to beautify the grounds with trees and shrubs.
The memorial was erected very quickly after the conclusion of the war; indeed, some of the men from the district were still overseas and a welcome home committee was subsequently formed.
The Cordalba War Memorial is set in the centre of a rectangular half acre block in the centre of Cordalba, bordering Queen Street to the south and Holme Street in the north.
The grassed sloping site is framed by mature fig trees on the eastern and western side contemporary with the war memorial and a single tree is located close to the entrance from Queen Street next to some concrete steps.
Previously noted remains of a gate and turnstile towards Queen Street are no longer extant.
A flagpole is located at the rear of the memorial.
The memorial faces towards Queen Street and features a statue of an Australian soldier standing on a tiered plinth with decorative corners and set on a concrete footing.
The statue was recently replaced as the original monument had been vandalised in previous years.
The inscription reads: Erected by the loyal residents of Cordalba and district in honour of those who gave their lives for King and country during the Great War 1914 – 1919.
The 26 names, follow the inscription, in lead lettering set in a marble tablet at the front of the plinths.
A.V Allison, W Bates, C. A Campbell, J Carmody, W.H Grummitt, J.M Guthrie, J Harney, A Henderson, T.R Irwin, F.C Kelly, J Kilgour, S.G Kilgour, C King, W.J Laurie, W Laurie, A Miller, P.A Oakes, P.W Page, E.J Rawlings, E Reiman, R.A Richmond, J Smale, L.G Taylor, J.H Taylor, P.F Ware, E.H Postle
Underneath is a wreath followed by the inscription ‘Cordalba. Roll of honour.’
The memorial is surrounded by a fence consisting of piping suspended between decorative corner posts.
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