Sarina War Memorial 1.39

Sarina War Memorial is a heritage-listed memorial at Broad Street, Sarina, Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1919 by Melrose and Fenwick. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 December 1997.HistoryThe Sarina War Memorial was erected for the ANZAC Day (25 April) ceremonies of 1919 and was produced by Melrose and Fenwick, monumental masons of Townsville. Funds for the memorial were raised by public subscription. The memorial honours the local men of Sarina and the surrounding district who served in the First World War. The memorial was unveiled on 2 October 1920 by Mrs Lucy Ada Heron, mother of Private Leslie Lionel Heron, killed in action on 7 August 1916.The town of Sarina is located 35 kilometres south of Mackay and was originally established as a pastoral holding. In the early 1880s, the area was thrown open for selection as sugar cane fields and flourished following the construction of the Plane Creek Sugar Mill in 1896. A supporting infrastructure of schools, theatres and halls was established, as well as residences for both workers and management. The town and mill serviced the southern part of the region and by the 1930s Sarina was the second largest town in the region. It continues to exist as a secondary centre to Mackay.Up until the early twentieth century, there were few statues or monuments in Queensland. However, as a result of the First World War (1914 - 1918), memorials were erected in almost every Queensland town. Such public expression of both grief for the dead and pride in the nation has not been generated by previous or subsequent wars.