Published on Thursday, 31 March 2022 at 12:44:00 PM

Granite soldier settled into place at Dardanup War Memorial

What a wonderful spectacle in Dardanup this week to see a 1.5m granite statue of a commemorative solider delicately positioned atop of the town’s War Memorial.

Installation of the solider marks the third stage and final stage of an incredibly collaborative effort over time between passionate community members and the Shire of Dardanup to update and refresh the Dardanup War Memorial.

And just in time for this year’s Anzac Day Service and March.

For Stage 3, the Shire worked collaboratively with the Dardanup Lions Club who initiated and campaigned for funding to install a solider.

Their efforts were rewarded with a $30,000 State Government grant delivered as an election commitment.

Construction and installation of two accessible shelter plus associated concrete hardstand and footpath also formed part of the project’s Stage 3.

Thank you to Hancock Memorials who manufactured and installed the statue and David Wells Construction for their support of the project including installation of the hardstand and pathway, shelters and preparations of the base of the memorial, allowing for installation of the statue.

Earlier stages of the memorial improvements included a new plaque to accommodate inclusion of nine new names discovered as previously missing and deserving of recognition.

Local war historian Jeff Peirce discovered the names of soldiers from the Dardanup area who had undertaken national service but were not included on the previous memorial plaque through his extensive and ongoing research.

Additional improvements to the memorial have included:

• Reconfiguration of the memorial to face the Dardanup Hall, improving safety during memorial services
• Paving, including ‘Lest We Forget’ within the brick work which was generously donated by Beyond Bricks
• Repainting of the memorial and addition of ‘Lest We Forget’ wording in black lettering to the memorial itself
• New curbing, expansion of rose garden and addition of rosemary bushes allowing for clippings to be taken during memorial services
• Level of grass adjusted to reduce trip hazards and requiring new turf to be laid
• Repainting of parking bay lines.
• Rammed earth wall for display of a Waterloo Diggers Plaques

Funding for the improvements have been provided by:

• Shire of Dardanup
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Waterloo Diggers
• Dardanup and Districts Residents Association
• Wellington Mills Community Association

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