Foster RSL will hold a memorial dedication ceremony on 8 December at the Cenotaph, in Foster, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the town’s war memorial. The service will be held in the central garden adjoining the flags and the memorial.
As there will not be a road closure, space is limited and attendance will be restricted to Foster RSL members and Foster Historical Society members.
The planning of the Cenotaph had a colorful and interesting history. When World War 1 ended, Australia was heading towards a financial depression. Times were tough and money was scarce. A world war had been fought and Foster was a township mourning the death of 22 young men.
Such was the setting in 1919 for the establishment of a lasting memorial to those young men who were carried away on ships to fight a world war and did not return from the battlefields.
A great sadness prevailed among the people of Foster and District.
But there was also a solid determination to remember the local men who had paid the ultimate price of war. Their deaths were final but memories of them would live on.
And so it was that the leaders of the town rallied with firm resolve to create a memorial that would be a place of remembrance and respect for local lives lost in defence of their country.
A public meeting was called, bringing together local businessmen, councillors, town dignitaries and other leading citizens to decide on a memorial and obtain the funds to erect it.
No one would have predicted that the process beginning with that public meeting in May, 1919 would take six years to reach completion. Deciding on the form of the memorial and funding it would take a long time.
Local tailor, Cr. Fred Fisher, was appointed convenor of the first meeting, with local shire councillors and others in attendance. There were several suggestions for the type of memorial.
Few people could afford large subscriptions and fundraising got underway. Public opinion wavered between either a war memorial monument or a new war memorial hall. Meetings held over the next several years could not agree on the type of memorial and funds were slow coming in.
Finally, a vote was taken at a public meeting in Foster in May, 1925, and the community was united in the choice of a war memorial monument. Hooray!
And with 350 pounds sterling in funds and plans ready to go, work began almost immediately.
The monument was built to completion by late November 1925. It was officially opened by his Excellency, the Governor of Victoria, Lord Stradbroke. Lord Stradbroke arrived in Foster by train. He noted the size and strength of the monument and paid homage to those whose names were listed. The entire town turned out for the unveiling. There was a Civic Reception, a Shire President’s Dinner and a Shire Ball. Lord Stradbroke was presented with a walking stick of local saddleback wood, sourced locally in South Gippsland.
And so this lengthy project was successfully completed, providing the town and district with a place of remembrance for those who died in WW1 and in the future wars that followed.
The Cenotaph still forms a focal point of the town today, and a commemorative plaque will be made to honour the upcoming dedication service on December 8, exactly 100 years after its installation.
This account has been made possible thanks to the detailed research of local historian Michael Heal. Michael’s work includes records from the shire council meetings between 1919 and 1925, taken from the actual written reports of the council meetings. The above account is a much shorter version of the original, which contains many entertaining word for word conversations in the council chambers. Carole Williams, Foster RSL Inc.
