In April 1926, The Age reported that Added impressiveness will be given to the Anzac day commemoration ceremony on Sunday, 25th April, by the erection of a cenotaph on the drive in front of Federal Parliament House. The cenotaph was suggested by the commemoration council of the State branch of the Returned Soldiers' League (1).
Building the temporary Cenotaph
The Argus, April 21, 1926 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3746659
The Cenotaph, modelled on the Whitehall Cenotaph in London, was a temporary structure made of wood. It was re-erected each year until 1934 when a new one was constructed as the old one fell to pieces and this new one was given a special waterproof treatment to save it from the fate of its predecessor. (2). In between Anzac Days the Cenotaph was stored at the Exhibition Building site reportedly either on a waste piece of land or behind the grandstand at the Exhibition Oval (3).
The temporary cenotaph on the steps of Parliament House, 1926.
The building across the street is the Windsor Hotel.
Image: Private collection
ANZAC Day in Melbourne, 1926.
General view of the scene at the Cenotaph, outside Federal Parliament Houses.
The Australasian, May 1, 1926 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141412907
1935 was the last Anzac Day the Cenotaph was installed on the steps of Parliament House, however it was also placed there in January 1936 for the Memorial service held to commemorate the death of King George V. The Anzac Day march in 1936 finished at the Shrine, not the Exhibition Building as in the past, and that year the Cenotaph was installed on the south-east corner of Princes Bridge. This was the last time it was on public display. Another temporary cenotaph was also constructed after the death of King George VI in 1952, and placed on the Parliament House steps.
Placing wreaths on the Cenotaph, 1929
The Argus, 25 April, 1929
What happened the temporary Cenotaph? As The Argus noted - Although it was made only of wood and paint the Cenotaph, which was erected annually for the occasion, symbolised the spirit of Anzac commemoration in Melbourne (4). Another part of our history, vanished.
Footnotes(1) The Age, March 31, 1926, read
(2) The Herald, April 23, 1934, read
(3) The Herald, November 10, 1927, read; The Herald, April 21, 1936, read;
(4) The Argus, April 22, 1938, read.
