Australian Ex-Prisoner of War Memorial, Ballarat, Victoria

The Australian Ex-Prisoner of War Memorial is unusual in that it is located in the regional Victorian town of Ballarat, rather than in the national capital, Canberra. Part of the reason for that is the lack of recognition for many years of the role played by prisoners of war (POW) in Australia's war history. The memorial was built near the Ballarat Botanical Gardens and dedicated in 2004 after veterans became disillusioned when vague plans to build in Canberra came to nothing. In 2008, the memorial was recognised as officially ‘national’.

The POW memorial acknowledges both those who died and those who lived. The names of all known POWs are engraved on a wall of black granite, in alphabetical order grouped according to which conflict they were involved in. This is similar to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the US, although there the names are of those who died and are listed chronologically. When I visited in July 2015, many of the names were decorated by red poppies.

In a break about half way along the wall, seven obelisks stand in a shallow pool of water, with one laid on its side representing the fallen. This is not representative of the percentages of those who lived versus those who died, as up to a quarter of POWs did not return. The obelisks also list the names of places overseas where Australian armed forces have been held captive. 

Images: 12, 21, 33, 25?, 37, 40

Opposite the obelisks stands a single stone with the names and dates of each of the wars. This stone is surrounded by flagpoles. In between is a slab on which wreaths can be placed on special days engraved with the words "We will remember them."

At the end of the walkway, which is designed to reference the railway sleepers that were a horrific part of many WW2 POW's experience, is a wall of water. On top of this is engraved the words, "Lest we forget". It is the water from this wall that runs along the shallow stream past the names and around the obelisks.

The memorial was designed by Peter Blizzard and a black granite slab at the entrance is engraved with an explanation of the symbolism of the  various elements. It states:

"This memorial is dedicated to all Australians who became prisoners of war while fighting the enemy." 

The physical memorial is also connected to educational material, including a touch-screen console at the memorial site, and a website containing more information.