The focus of the Memorial is the Hall of Memory, a quiet place for contemplation of the efforts of ordinary Australians in war and for the remembrance of those who suffered and died.

Each one of the Hall's fifteen stained glass windows represents a defining quality of Australian servicemen and women, incorporating images of Australian soldiers, airmen, sailors and a nurse, all from the First World War. The windows were designed and executed by Napier Waller, a Victorian artist who lost his right arm during that war. The walls and dome of the Hall are lined with one of the largest mosaics in the world, also the work of Waller and unveiled in 1959. The mosaic inside the dome depicts the souls of the dead rising from the earth towards their spiritual home, represented by a glowing sun within the Southern Cross. The figures on the walls – a soldier, a sailor, an airman and a servicewoman – recall the Australian experience of the Second World War. Over six million pieces of glass tesserae were used in the composition; it was installed by an Italian craftsman and took over three years to complete.

On 11 November 1993, the remains of an Unknown Soldier, killed in France in the First World War, were brought home from France and interred in the tomb in the centre of the Hall of Memory.

 

More About:

• Commemorative Area
• Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
• Document: The Hall of Memory Mosaic
  This document was produced in 1989 as collection notes to accompany the art Exhibition "Art in Action". It contains detailed information about the Hall of Memory Mosaic (the exhibition referred to is no longer on display).
• Document: The stained glass windows
  This document describes the defining qualities of Australian servicemen and women which are represented by the fifteen stained glass windows in the Hall of Memory.
• Document: The four pillars in the Hall of Memory
  This document describes the symbolism of the four pillars located in the Hall of Memory as earth, air, fire and water.
• Document: Large figures on the walls of the Hall of Memory
  This document describes the significance of the four large figures located on the walls in the Hall of Memory - the soldier (army), sailor (navy), airman (air force) and servicewoman (women's services).
• Napier Waller, entry from the Australian Dictionary of Biography