Toowoomba Plaque - Vietnam

Mothers Memorial Garden, Boer War Gates
Toowoomba QLD 4350

Metal plaque attached on the Boer War Gates in Mothers Memorial Garden

Inscription: THE VIETNAM WAR 1962 - 1973/This plaque is dedicated to all Australians who served in South Vietnam Between July 1962 and January 1973, and to the memory of those Australians who lost their lives in the vietnam war.
Conflicts commemorated: Vietnam War, 1962–1972
Memorial type: Plaque
Commemorative services held: To be confirmed
Additional information: The gates and adjacent wall were built from bricks hand made in Queens Park 1862-1864 to build the walls of the Toowoomba gaol. In 1904 the goal was closed and a part of the space roofed over to become the Austral Memorial Hall, dedicated as a Boer War memorial. When this was demolished about 1917 only a fragment of the walls remained, and bricks from this were recovered and re-erected in 1985. A poem written in 1900 by Banjo Paterson honouring Soldiers of the Queen, men of the Queensland Mounted Infantry, is inscribed on the left gate, complete with etched slouch hat with emu plume. Details are located on the right gate.
On the back of the walls on either side of the entrance are plaques honouring WAAF, WRAN, Women's Services, Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam and Milne Bay participants. A plaque near the western end of the wall marks the commencement of a WAAAF tree lined walkway through East Creek Park, completed late 1993.
Recorded by: To be confirmed
Date recorded: 2 April 2009