St John's Cathedral, Brisbane and the Anzac Legend

Section 10 recalls the ‘Stone of Rememberance’ at the Cathedral, unveiled in 1947 by the leading British general of the Second World War, Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery, which commemorates the service of all Queenslanders who served in that conflict. In Australia, Montgomery is best remembered for his association with Australian troops at the Battle of El Alamein in North Africa. There, in 1942, British, Australian and New Zealand forces defeated the German and Italian forces in a battle which owed much of its success to the fighting qualities displayed by the Australian 9th Division, facilitating a victory which marked a major turning point in the land war against Nazi Germany. Section 11 features a Cathedral crucifx which commemorates the 1964 HMAS Voyager disaster when, on peacetime manouvres, the Australian destroyer was involved in a collision with the aircaft carrier HMAS Melbourne with the loss of 82 sailors. The memorial recalls the event, including the acts of heroism that were displayed by rescuers who, in the Anzac spirit, risked their lives to save their sailor ‘mates.’ The final section, section 12, illustrates the enduring ties between St John’s Cathedral and Australian Army personnel reflected in the regimental banners (or ‘colours’) that lie in the Cathedral. For soldiers today, as in the past, regimental colours are sacred to their mission and to the lives they honour. Since the First World War, St John’s has been a noted repository for numerous colours laid-up by Queensland regiments including the 9th Infantry Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment, which had the first man ashore at Gallipoli. Throughout the sections of this book, small thumbnail plans of the Cathedral identify the locations of the respective artefacts, and these are combined in a more comprehensive floorplan at the front of the book.

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