The Vases
Eight hand-etched glass vases, each with an image of a different plant species, are located at the entrances to the Hall of Service. The eight plant species were selected by artist Fiona Hall because of their association to Australia’s Great War service, and to our national memorialising of it.
Flanders poppy (Papaver rhoeas)
Immortalised by Lieutenant-Colonel John McRae's poem In Flanders Fields (1915), became the enduring symbol of the war for veterans and remembered as the only flower to bloom in the shattered landscape of no man's land.
Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis)
Lone Pine charge survivor Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith sent an Aleppo Pine cone from the battlefield on which his brother was killed to their mother. A sapling germinated from that cone now stands at the Australian War Memorial.
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Valued in ancient times for its believed ability to improve memory - a sprig of rosemary is worn every Anzac Day as a symbol of remembrance. Its links to Anzac remembrance are made stronger as it was found growing wild on Gallipoli.
Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra ‘Italica’)
Intrinsic to the landscape of the Somme and Flanders battlefields of France and Belgium, the poplar became part of the collective memory of those who fought on the Western Front.
Gallipoli rose (Cistus salviifolius)
The delicate white flower grows wild in the harsh landscape of the Gallipoli Peninsula. When Australian historian Charles Bean led a team of historians back to Anzac Cove in 1919 they were moved to find Gallipoli Rose growing on the old battlefield.
Waratah (Telopea speciosissima)
The Waratah was among the first examples of Australian flora incorporated into our military heraldry and can still be found on the badges of NSW units.
Sydney blue gum (Eucalyptus saligna) and the Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha)
The original design for the Hall of Service called for pairs of sliding-glass doors at the entry points to the space. Hall proposed that each of the eight doors (four pairs) would be etched with an image of a plant species relevant to Australia’s Great War service, and to our national memorialising of that war. Fiona Hall planned to hand-etch all the images, centrally onto the doors.
The plants can be presented as etched glass images on the walls inside the Hall of Service, above the Towns of Enlistment panels on the north and south walls, or on the exterior of the side walls. In either situation they would no longer be presented on plate glass but potentially on a hand blown or moulded form, which would enable the artwork to be carried out by me.
Following changes to the Hall of Service design and the deletion of the glass doors Hall proposed alternative ideas for the works’ placement. However, the ideas for the inclusion of the botanical illustrations continued to evolve and ultimately a solution was settled on whereby the etchings would be made onto glass urns which would be displayed in niches set into the exterior of the Hall of Service walls facing the outer galleries.
On this day
On this day
3 June
1942 — Battle of MIDWAY began. This decisive victory by the US Navy over the Japanese Navy shifted the balance of sea power in the Pacific and forced Japan to abandon plans to attack New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa. Japanese losses were 4 aircraft carriers, 1 cruiser, 248 aircraft, and over 3,000 sailors. American losses were 1 aircraft carrier, 1 destroyer, 150 aircraft, and 307 men
1944 — 78 Squadron, RAAF, carried out the last major air combat by the RAAF in WW2, off BIAK Island, New Guinea. 10 enemy planes were shot down for the loss of one Australian plane and pilot
1969 — HMAS MELBOURNE collided with USS FRANK E EVANS in the South China Sea. EVANS was cut in half and 74 of her crew were killed