The Hall of Memory, set above the Pool of Reflection, is the heart of the Australian War Memorial. It can only be reached by walking past the names of the more than 102,000 who have given their lives in the service of this country. Here you stand by the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier, at the still point of all remembrance.
The Memorial was conceived in the years after the First World War, though difficulties with budget and design delayed construction until 1936.
The Great War was to be commemorated in the stained-glass windows of the Hall of Memory, but by the time of the Memorial’s official opening in 1941, the Second World War had begun. In 1945 it was decided that the Hall’s mosaic should be dedicated to the memory of the fallen in the recent war. The Hall of Memory was finally dedicated in 1959.
