Lieutenant William Eustace O'Halloran Memorial, Warialda

About

The memorial is an elegant timber board, made of Queensland maple. It has a classical pediment at the top, featuring decorative carvings. The left and right sides of the board are each decorated with a carved column, topped with a Corinthian capital.  The board is dedicated to Lieutenant William Eustace O'Halloran, who was killed in action on 2 April 1917 during the First World War. The inscription is printed in gold in the centre of the board and a framed portrait of O'Halloran is positioned nearby.  The memorial was established by the then Yallaroi Shire Council, where O'Halloran was Shire Clerk from March 1912 to January 1915. The council was advised of his passing in a letter from his brother Mr E.W.J. O'Halloran, received later the same month (Warialda Standard and Northern Districts' Advertiser, 23 April 1917). Planning for the memorial began at a council meeting in July 1917, when a clerk was "instructed to get further information re memorial tablet" (Warialda Standard, 16 July 1917). It was hanging in the Yallaroi Shire Council Chambers by early 1918, when it was described in a tribute article in the Warialda Standard on 8 April.  O'Halloran was born on 9 June 1885 to William and Helen O'Hallaran. He enlisted on 7 January 1915, as a Shire Clerk, aged 30 years and married. A member of the 20th Battalion, his unit embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A75 Ballarat on 6 September 1915. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 30 August 1915 and was killed on 2 April 1917. There is no known grave but he is commemorated at the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux in France. The memorial has been moved from the council chambers to the Warialda Historical Society Museum, which was established in 2017. The building was formerly the Masonic Lodge. The memorial can be viewed during the opening hours of the museum.

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