Shamrock Trail, stop nine: The Boorowa War Memorial

The Boorowa War Memorial, stop nine on the Shamrock Trail, asks walkers to slow down, and never more so than in the week of Remembrance Day. The brick building with its clock tower, on the corner of Marsden and Brial Streets, was officially opened on Remembrance Day 1933, 15 years to the day after the Armistice. Getting there took years. Boorowa voted against conscription in the referendums of 1916 and 1917, and that sentiment may have played a part in the delay. The district supported its returned servicemen and built cottages for the widows of two men who died on active service, but could not agree on a permanent memorial. A soldiers’ club, an obstetrics branch at the local hospital, a band rotunda and a bridge over Ryan’s Creek were all proposed. A 1928 vote favoured the bridge, 606 votes to 219, yet it attracted little community support. With the matter still unresolved in 1932, local servicemen took it into their own hands. Subscriptions flowed in, each acknowledged in the local newspaper, and the memorial rose in local brick, providing work during the Great Depression. It was built as a meeting room as well as a memorial, a place for gathering as well as remembering. The honour roll was unveiled on ANZAC Day 1933, and the keys were handed over to the Boorowa Returned and Services League (RSL) Sub-Branch in June, before the official opening on Remembrance Day Inscribed on the building are the names of the soldiers who enlisted from Boorowa and district, with 345 men and women serving in World War I and 905 in World War II. Later plaques recognise the Boer War, Korea, Vietnam, East Timor, Afghanistan and more, with new plaques dedicated on the centenary of the Armistice in 2018. Local volunteers have since refurbished the building to the architect’s original specifications. There is no ceremony built into this stop, and none is needed. Walkers are simply invited to stand at the gate, read the names and take a moment. At 11am on Wednesday 11 November, the nation will pause. In Boorowa, a memorial that was so long in the making will be there waiting, as it has been for more than 90 years.