A towering soldier statue now found in Goondiwindi's Town Park was one of the most expensive soldier monuments marking WWI in Queensland. Governor Sir Matthew Nathan unveiled the six metre high memorial in September 1922 while in the south-west border town to observe an eclipse of the sun.
The life-sized grey sandstone soldier, standing on top of a red and grey polished granite column, polished blocked trachyte pedestal and a stepped concrete base, cost £1,800. It was located in Herbert Street at that time.
The designer is unknown. The pedestal carries the gilded names of 325 locals who enlisted in WWI-providing invaluable insight into the community's involvement in the war. Of those, 54 (about one in six) died, underscoring the devastating impact the conflict had on a young nation.
The soldiers' monument was relocated to the park in 1949. At this time, a set of gates were erected as a WWII memorial, unveiled by Sir Thomas William Glasgow, a Gallipoli survivor who went on to stand up to high-ranking British officers in France, refusing their command to surrender at Villers-Bretonneux.
