Alexandra Secondary College students visit Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance

ON June 12, Alexandra Secondary College’s Year 10 History class visited The Shrine of Remembrance. Our visit complemented our studies of the Pacific Theatre of World War Two.

On our guided tour we viewed exhibits relating to the sinking of the Vyner Brook, the tragedy that was the Banka Island massacre, the Changi flag, and stories and experiences of Australian Prisoners of War.

We also focused on the importance of those who were left at home including the land army, and how their works helped support our soldiers.

Our tour then took us to the Crypt beneath the Sanctuary where stands a statue of a father and son both in military uniform. This sculpture represents the two generations of Victorians who served and died for our country in both world wars.

Our tour guide led us in a brief service here which included the reading of the ANZAC Ode. The Sanctuary was our next stop. Here we observed a simulation of the sun’s rays crossing “Greater love hath no man” carved into the Stone of Remembrance. Our guided tour was now over.

We were then given some free time to look at sections of the shrine that we were interested in. These sections included exhibits relating to the Korean War, the Boer War, and the Vietnam War.

Next, we made our way outside the Shrine to explore the courtyards that are located at the four corners of the Shrine.

The courtyard at the visitor’s entrance is designed to represent the trenches that Australian soldiers fought in along the Western Front. Our favorite was the Terrace Courtyard which is filled with vegetation to look like the Burma jungle. Inside this courtyard we took great joy in finding our hometowns.

These can be found on lasered panels which have the names of all Victorian towns from which soldiers enlisted in..

Image: The year ten students at the Shrine of Remembrance.