History Ma Ma Creek War Memorial

war memorial in grounds of st stephen s anglican church cemetery @ ma ma creek, 1920s



ma ma creek war memorial, tablet, 2006

the ma ma creek war memorial erected in 1920 fleurine elsie andrews. designed , produced a. l. petrie , son of toowong, brisbane.

after losing 3 sons in first world war, fleurine elsie andrews commissioned memorial , donated organ church in memory of sons. 3 sons were:

private james martin andrews (killed on 5 august 1916, aged 26 years)
private george henry andrews (killed on 9 june 1917, aged 28 years)
private bertie reginald andrews (killed on 10 june 1918, aged 20 years)

all killed in france.

the district of ma ma creek takes name aboriginal name creek flows through area, mia mia. area 1 of earliest settled parts of west moreton, valued rich fertile lands , abundant water supply. first settlers european , cleared both ridges , flats grazing. cotton growing attempted in 1870s, , again, more successfully, in 1890s when ipswich established cotton mill. area survives small township in centre of agricultural area.

st stephen s anglican church, ma ma creek, 1920s



view of church north, 2006



view of church west, 2006

the cemetery @ ma ma creek consecrated in april 1896 , small wooden church erected service local anglican community. in 1912, existing church, designed brisbane architect, w c voller, erected.

the first world war memorial situated in st stephens cemetery, directly behind andrews family plot. although privately owned, became focus of public anzac day memorial services.

australia, , queensland in particular, had few civic monuments before first world war. memorials erected in wake became our first national monuments, recording devastating impact of war on young nation. australia lost 60,000 population of 4 million, representing 1 in 5 of served. no previous or subsequent war has made such impact on nation.

even before end of war, memorials became spontaneous , highly visible expression of national grief. erected them, sacred grave sites, substitute graves australians bodies lay in battlefield cemeteries in europe , middle east. british policy decreed empire war dead buried fell. word cenotaph , commonly applied war memorials @ time, literally means empty tomb .

australian war memorials distinctive in commemorate not dead. australians proud first great national army, unlike other belligerent armies, composed entirely of volunteers, men worthy of honour whether or not made supreme sacrifice. many memorials honour served locality, not dead, providing valuable evidence of community involvement in war. such evidence not readily obtainable military records, or state or national listings, names categorised alphabetically or military unit.

australian war memorials valuable evidence of imperial , national loyalties, @ time, not seen conflicting; skills of local stonemasons, metalworkers , architects; , of popular taste. in queensland, soldier statue popular choice of memorial, whereas obelisk predominated in southern states, possibly reflection of queensland s larger working-class population , lesser involvement of architects.

many of first world war monuments have been updated record local involvement in later conflicts, , have fallen victim unsympathetic re-location , repair.

although there many different types of memorials in queensland, digger statue common. popular choice of communities responsible erecting memorials, embodying anzac spirit , representing qualities of ideal australian: loyalty, courage, youth, innocence , masculinity. digger phenomenon peculiar queensland, perhaps due fact other states had followed britain s lead , established advisory boards made of architects , artists, prior erection of war memorials. digger statue not highly regarded artists , architects involved in design of relatively few queensland memorials

most statues constructed local masonry firms, although artists or imported.

a l petrie , sons of toowong largest monumental masonry firm in queensland @ time , produced many war memorials throughout state.

the memorial @ ma ma creek petrie design on standard base, evident @ biggenden , southport in queensland , in new south wales. remaining digger in queensland depicted wearing cap instead of slouch hat. other known example @ biggenden, has replacement statue.