Stirling Square War Memorial (Perth, WA)

 historic landmark, war memorial

The War memorial was erected after World War I in 1920. Not all the names of those who fell are on the memorial as you had to pay. The memorial shows names of the sons of prominent settler families including Hamersley, Drake-Brockman and Devenis
This significant memorial was upgraded with the addition of two World War II 25 pounder field guns reflecting the Guildford‘s long artillery traditions from 1913 when an Artillery Battery occupied the South Guildford Military Reserve. To this day Gunner‘s Day is commemorated each November with a parade followed by a service in St Matthew‘s Church. The Memorial Gates were built in 1929 to commemorate the State’s centenary. They were restored and rededicated in 2012.

The gardens and the stately Sugar Gum trees (Eucalyptus cladocalyx) are significant and held in high regard by the both locals and visitors. The Sugar Gums are not native to WA and were planted in 1890 for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. There were plans to fell them in 1999 but the people of Guildford successfully argued against this. There is a commemoration bench that was placed in Stirling Square in 2009 to recognise their campaign.