This virtual cache is not in any way about glorifying war. Rather it is about bringing people to a place they may never have seen even though it is in the central city. It is a place that recognises individuals who put themselves in harms way out of a sense of duty to their country, and to their families, and to their mates.
Soldiers in World War 1:
416,809 Australians enlisted to serve in the First World War from a population of fewer than 5 million. In South Australia over 37% of all the men aged between 18 and 44 enlisted. Of the Australians who served, 62,000 died (over 1 in 7) and 156,000 were wounded (over 1 in 3).
We see names of those who died or served all around Australia. But for many of us over 100 years later they are just lists of names. This Virtual Cache will invite you to find out something about just one of those names.
Brad and Janet both have relatives who served in World War 1. Earlier this year they traveled to the Western Front to find out more about these two soldiers.
Brad’s grandfather Clarrie served with the AIF (Australia Imperial Force) on the Western Front. He was wounded 3 times - at Bullecourt on 11 April 1917, at Dernancourt on 27 March 1918, and at Le Hamel in July 1918. As a small child Brad remembers seeing strange black marks visible under the skin on his grandfather’s face and neck. Brad now knows these were pieces of shrapnel from when he was wounded.
Janet’s grandfather Harry, who (like Janet) was from Victoria, also served with the AIF. He landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 and later also fought on the Western Front. In 1916 he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery during the Battle of Pozieres. He was wounded in October 1917 and although he returned to Australia he eventually died some years later from complications well before Janet was born.
Brad’s grandfather served with the 48th Battalion, and Janet’s served with the 15th Battalion. Coincidentally in the form-up for the First Battle of Bullecourt on 11 April 1917, the 15th and the 48th battalions were positioned immediately next to each other. Maybe the the 26 year old Harry and the 19 year old Clarrie saw each other in passing?
The First Battle of Bullecourt was a disaster for the allies. Of the 3000 soldiers from the Australian 4th Brigade, 2258 were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner – over 75%. Fortunately for the Brad&Janet team's existence both their grandfathers survived that battle, although Clarrie was wounded.
National War Memorial (South Australia):
This virtual cache is located at the National War Memorial (South Australia). There are also nearby memorials related to other conflicts including the two in which Brad himself served.
First proposed in 1919, the memorial was funded by the Parliament of South Australia, making it the first Australian State War Memorial to be confirmed after the war. It opened in 1931.
The two sides of the monument represent the start and the end of war. Each side has a relief carved from Angaston marble and framed by an arch of Macclesfield marble.
The front (or obverse) of the monument has the relief "Spirit of Duty" appearing as a vision before the as yet unprepared youth of South Australia
On the rear (or reverse) of the Memorial is "The Spirit of Compassion", a sculpture of an angel bearing aloft the body of a stricken soldier. Beneath this is the Fountain of Compassion.
The monument was designed to honour not just the war dead but all who served in the war. One face is inscribed to those who died in the war, while the other is dedicated to "all who served".
The designers acknowledged the symbolism does not represent victory but rather it symbolizes and commemorates the sacrifices and loss of those with a "willingness to serve and sacrifice".
One of the most interesting features is the inner chamber, where the names of the South Australians who died during World War 1 are recorded in bronze. This inner chamber is a place that many South Australians have walked past without entering or perhaps without even realising that it is there.
Logging requirements:
There are two mandatory tasks and two optional tasks to be done to log this cache successfully.
Task 1: There are four WW1 crosses in protective glass boxes in the area behind (north of) the Memorial. These were initially erected in France during World War 1 (three at Pozieres and one at Villers Bretonneux). They were later brought back to South Australia. Each relates to a different Battalion. Find those crosses and examine them and the plaques nearby. Make a note of the numbers of each of these four battalions.
Task 2: Now enter the inner chamber and find the lists of names of those who died from the four battalions whose crosses you found in Task 1. Choose a soldier from one of these four lists whose name starts with the same letter as the first letter that appears in your geocaching name (see note 3). Take a photo inside the chamber showing a close-up of this soldier’s name including (at least part of) yourself clearly pointing to that one name. You can use a personal item to point with if you prefer not to include any part of yourself in the image. The individual name should be clearly indicated by pointing and should also be clearly readable. You will need to include the name you chose and the photo with your log.
Task 3 (optional): You may be interested to look for more information online about the soldier whose name you chose. There is often quite a bit available. You can share what you find in your log if you wish.
Task 4 (optional): Finally, if you or a relative has served in any country's military, please feel free to include any stories of this service that you would like to. Photos of yourself or relatives in uniform and/or of things like medals won would be an interesting addition to your log.
Notes:
- (1) If multiple teams do this cache together, each team will need to choose their own soldier and include their own photo in their log please.
- (2) If there are no soldiers names starting with the first letter in your geocaching name, move to your geocaching name's second letter and so on. If you run out of letters to try or if your geocaching name does not have any letters in it at all, then please choose a name starting with the letter A.
- (3)Alternative for wheelchair cachers only. Unfortunately there are steps into the shrine which preclude wheelchair entry. Accordingly if you are in a wheelchair or otherwise physically limited to T1 only, please go to the waypoint given for the World War Two Memorial and chose the soldier’s name from that memorial instead. The rest of the tasks are otherwise the same.
- (4) Any other photos of GZ and/or yourself/team/group at GZ would of course be appreciated.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.