This week, with ANZAC Day commemorations so close Roy decided he wanted to visit somewhere where he could reflect on the people who fought in the war, not only those who died but also those whose lives were changed forever. When we think of war we tend to think of the people who lost their lives fighting for their country, but think less about the survivors and what their lives were like. How it would be to live when you had lost so many friends. Roy wanted to visit somewhere which commemorated both those who died and those who lived, and so thought it was the perfect time to take you to a touching memorial in Sydney. A few weeks ago he visited Lady Davidson Hospital (to read about his visit click here), and this reminded him of a fascinating and beautiful War Memorial close to the hospital itself, the Sphinx Memorial.
The Sphinx Memorial is inside the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, just inside the Turramurra Gate. To get there, follow Bobbin Head Road from the Pacific Highway at Turramurra. You can visit any day at times when the park is open, but make sure to check the sign to find out what time the gates shut, especially if you come by car, as you don't want to be locked in! The Sphinx Memorial is also the start or end point for some of the walking tracks through the national park.
The Sphinx Memorial is a very special war memorial and unlike any other Roy has visited. Not only is it an amazing sculpture, it was created by one man, a soldier, in memory of his friends and comrades. The soldiers name was William Shirley and he was staying at Lady Davidson Hospital. During the war he had fought with the AIF and while on the Western Front he was gassed, like so many others. Then, he suffered from Tuberculosis and came to stay at Lady Davidson. Between 1926 and 1928, while he was a patient at the hospital, Shirley worked on creating the Sphinx Memorial, his own personal commemoration of his comrades in the AIF. The Sphinx is carved from sandstone and bears the inscription:
To my glorious comrades of the A.I.F
by the late W. Shirley
No 5756 Pte. 13th Battalion
Died 27th August 1929
Shirley died in 1929, not that long after he completed the memorial.
You might wonder why Shirley chose the Sphinx as the theme for his memorial. In World War One the ANZACs were heading overseas to train before being sent on to the battlefields. At first, they were to go to England and from there join the fight in France or the Middle East, but when Turkey declared itself an ally of Germany, the ships were diverted to Egypt. Camp was set up near Cairo at a place called Mena and the ANZACs set to training. The training, which was not far from the ancient wonders of the Pyramids and the Sphinx was intense and difficult, but the ANZACs did get a little bit of time off and visited Cairo as well as touring the Pyramids and the Sphinx. This training was probably the inspiration for the Sphinx War Memorial.
