Kitchener Memorial

The Kitchener Memorial was erected in 1929 to commemorate the visit of Lord Kitchener to Wynnum in 1910. First Earl Kitchener of Khartoum was a renowned British Field Marshal and statesman who held numerous senior positions. Commissioned into the British Army in 1871 including Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Army, Governor of Sudan, and Commander-in-Chief in South Africa. He secured the latter role at the end of the South African War in 1902, though was much criticised for his use of concentration camps for civilians and his systematic denudation of the farmlands.

In late 1909, Kitchener was invited by the Commonwealth government to conduct a visit to ‘inspect the existing military forces and system in Australia.’ He presented a report on Australia’s defences to the Commonwealth Government in 1910. Among his key recommendations was the introduction of universal military training for all men, which was implemented through the Defence Act in 1911. During his visit, Kitchener visited all the states of the Commonwealth.

While in Queensland in January 1910, Kitchener inspected the forces based around Fort Lytton. On 3 January, he inspected a march past of troops ‘on the road between Wynnum and Manly.’ Troops involved in the inspection included both infantry and light horse. A report in The Telegraph recorded that ‘[w]hatever K. of K. can do he certainly cannot ride, as we understand the term in Queensland.’

At the outbreak of the First World War, Kitchener was recalled to England as Secretary of State for War. He became the symbol of the British war effort when he appeared on a recruiting poster, featuring his distinctive walrus moustache and steely gaze, and pointing towards the viewer and urging them to join the army. In 1916, he drowned when his ship, HMS Hampshire, struck a German mine and sank off the Orkney Islands. 

Soon after Kitchener’s death, plans emerged to commemorate his inspection of forces in Queensland. In 1917, a wooden memorial pillar was erected here, where Kitchener had reviewed the troops in 1910. In the mid-1920s, the Wynnum and Manly sub-branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia drew up plans to erect a permanent memorial. Originally envisaged as a set of gates, the memorial eventually became a cairn with a commemorative tablet. At the same time, the Wynnum and Manly sub-branch also intended to erect a War Memorial Hall on land donated to them by the Railway Commissioner.

The granite memorial cairn was unveiled on 7 December 1929 on the site of the War Memorial Hall by the Governor of Queensland, Sir John Goodwin. Lady Goodwin opened the War Memorial Hall the same day. Goodwin noted that it was an ‘honour’ to unveil a memorial to ‘a man he had known for many years [and] one of the finest men and one of the greatest soldiers he had ever seen.’ 

Over the years, the memorial cairn became a focal point for remembrance in Wynnum. However, in 1963, it was demolished during the extension of the 1950s RSL building. The cairn bricks were later used in a war memorial constructed in Dulwich on Stradbroke Island.

In 1992, the lost marble face of the memorial was rediscovered and re-sited approximately 60 metres from its original location. While no longer in its original position, its current placement mirrors the ‘review point’ of the original 1910 event and the memorial’s original location. It now features the Brisbane City Council logo and provides the site's provenance, detailing the memorial’s 1929 unveiling, its 1963 demolition, and its subsequent recovery and relocation.

The Kitchener Memorial is a monument in a road reserve along Tingal Road, north of the intersection with Berrima Street. Its material, form, openings and scale reflect its design as a monument.

The monument's key features are its form and setting. It comprises a substantial grey granite tablet with an irregular top edge. The front face of the tablet has been polished and is inscribed with white lettering. The tablet is mounted on a truncated pyramidal concrete plinth with a coarse, exposed-aggregate finish. This plinth provides a stable, elevated transition between the historic stone and the ground. A rectangular bronze interpretive plaque is affixed to the front face of the plinth. Added in 1992, the plaque details the monument's history. 

The monument is set within a specially designated area that combines traditional and contemporary materials to define the space. The tablet and plinth are centred within a low concrete octagonal kerb, forming a small courtyard around the monument. An opening in the front of the kerb provides access. The perimeter of the concrete kerb is bordered by two rows of single red clay bricks with exposed aggregate concrete paths in between, providing a colour contrast to the grey stone and concrete.  A formal concrete-and-brick path leads directly to the memorial, composed of exposed aggregate concrete edged with matching red-brick headers, blending the monument into the surrounding parkland. The monument is set in an open parkland area, framed by mature trees and native grasses, with timber posts lining the perimeter. 

Significant features

Features of cultural heritage significance include:

• Form: Monument featuring a substantial grey tablet set on a truncated pyramidal concrete plinth, in a dedicated setting with a low octagonal kerb forming a courtyard. Materials include granite, exposed aggregate concrete, concrete and red clay bricks.
• Ancillary features/elements: Path leading to the monument, consisting of exposed aggregate concrete edged with red bricks.
• Landscape and vegetation: Open parkland framed by mature trees and native grasses, edged with timber posts.
• Setting: Views to and from the monument from Tingal Road.