The Centenary of the First World War Armistice is of great significance to our nation, as it represents 100 years since the end of the First World War.
With so many brave WW1 servicemen and women interred or memorialised within our grounds, Rookwood General Cemetery embarked on a four year project to research the servicemen and women memorialised in unofficial war graves throughout Rookwood.
Over 1700 unofficial WW1 memorials were identified. This includes memorials of soldiers who died in training, returned service people memorialised in family graves, and symbolic monuments erected by families for soldiers killed or missing in action.
As a sign of respect to these servicemen and women, their memorials have been cleaned and services have been conducted at each site. Further to this, we are now completing monumental repairs on the more deteriorated memorials, whilst sharing the many stories that we have uncovered.
Rookwood General Cemetery employees volunteered their time to research the WW1 servicemen and women interred throughout Rookwood in unofficial war graves. As the inscriptions on their monuments did not provide a lot information about their involvement in WW1, we engaged with family members to discover more.
To commemorate these servicemen and women, and acknowledge all of the brave people who have served to improve the lives of others, we are holding a Remembrance event in November 2018.
Date: Friday 9 November 2018
Time: 10:00AM to 2:00PM (Ceremony: 10:30AM to 11:30AM)
Location: All Souls Chapel, 1 Hawthorne Ave, Rookwood Cemetery NSW 2141
There will be an official service at 10.30am, including a video tribute, poetry readings, wreath laying and music played by the Knox Grammar School band. Following the service guests can watch a gun-fire salute performed by the 18th Battalion re-enactment group, do an Anzac tours and see an open-air museum.