Walpole has always remembered those who gave their lives in war.

Returned service men and women were pioneers in the community from the town's beginning.

25 APRIL 2022

Walpole residents and visitors once again gathered at the district's local Walpole War Memorial to pause and reflect and give thanks for those who had answered a call to service especially those who did not return.

The Governor General In his  2022 Anzac Day National Address said history matters:

"if we learn from the ANZAC LEGACY and if we continue to live up to it, history tells us that we can overcome any challenge".

He described the ANZAC LEGACY:

• mateship
• endurance
• courage
• sacrifice.

The   Governor General has encouraged us to:

• acknowledge those who have died in service to our nation
• reflect on how that service and sacrifice has contributed to what and who we are as a nation today - that is, to understand its impact; and
• understand what our response should be to that legacy.

Walpole paused to do this on Anzac Day 2022; as it has for many years.

THE MEMORIAL (Twenty Years Old)

Twenty Years ago (25^th April 2002) and every ANZAC Day since (with the exception of 2020 which was cancelled because of the Covid Pandemic) a commemoration was held at the then new Walpole war memorial.

There are records of ANZAC and Remembrance Day Commemorative Services in Walpole long before the War Memorial was erected in 2002 including in 1940 and during a "Back to Walpole" weekend 24-26 April 1993 (see program below).

The War Memorial in Walpole was proposed in 2000 and opened for the ANZAC Commemoration Service in 2002:

The paved area of the Memorial was extended in 2015:

This was made possible with funding received from the ANZAC Centenary Local Grants Program, including bricks engraved with the names of those who served in World War 1 (1914-1918) and came to settle in Walpole and Districts.