Australian Ex-Prisoner of War Memorial
Situated at the southern end of the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, the Memorial honours more than 35,000 Australian held prisoners during the Boer War, the
First World War, the Second World War and the Korean War.
At the heart of this striking monument is a stark, 130 metre long wall of highly polished black granite, engraved with the names of over 35,000 Australian prisoners of war.
Standing sentinel at the centre of the Memorial are six huge basalt obelisks etched with the names of all the countries where Australians were held prisoner of war.
The Australian Ex-Prisoner of War Memorial is a place of national honour, remembrance and healing for all Australians.
Did You Know?
Surviving prisoners of war from the Ballarat region met regularly throughout the 1950s - 90's and various plans for the establishment of a focal point for commemoration were periodically discussed. However, the Australian Federal Government stated that the focal point should be built in Canberra.
By the early 1980s the Ballarat City Council granted a parcel of land adjacent to the city gardens to allow local veterans a place to establish a permanent focal point for the Ballarat POW's. By the mid 1990's the Australian Federal Government still had no plan for a permanent monument to be established in Canberra, thus the surviving POW's in Ballarat were prompted to action and planned for the building of a permanent memorial in their city. To-day it remains in Ballarat as the Official National War Memorial.