Walhallow Great War Gates of Memory and First World War Honour Roll

About

This war memorial is located at the entrance to Walhallow Public School. It consists of two low walls, which are painted white and face each other. They are positioned at the end of a concrete footpath, creating a gateway to the school. A bronze plaque is inset into one of the walls, bearing the dedication. There are two flagpoles next to the walls: one flying the Australian Aboriginal Flag, the other flying the Australian National Flag. The gates were unveiled on 19 November 1934 by Mr E H Harkness, Deputy Director of Education. A report of the unveiling was published in The Scone Advocate on 23 November. All 285 residents of the Walhallow Aboriginal Mission Station were present for the event, along with several officials. After the gates were unveiled, Mr Childs unveiled an honour roll inside the school. It contained the names of 19 residents who served in the war, eight of whom were killed. The whereabouts of this honour roll are unknown.  A research project was undertaken to recover the names of the servicemen from Walhallow, including eight men who were killed in the First World War. The resulting essay 'The Forgotten Indigenous Soldiers of Walhallow', received an Honourable Mention in the 2020 Aboriginal History Prize (History Council NSW Awards). Based on this research, a memorial was created in honour of the men who were resident on Walhallow Station and who served in the AIF.  In 1915 legislation prevented persons not of European origin or descent from enlisting. Consequently the men from Walhallow Station attempted to enlist on many occasions, changed their names or moved to other addresses in New England. The metal honour roll containing the names of veterans from Walhallow Station is now located in the Walhallow Public School. It is intended that the honour roll will be placed on the memorial gates.

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