Loyality Square

The War Memorial at Loyalty Square was a sad and lonely site in the 1970's and 80's. It stood in the middle of Darling St, isolated by traffic the occupants of cars, buses and trucks would pass it without a second thought to its history or meaning. It was covered in exhaust fumes, the light on its mast was broken and it was chipped from the occasional bump by a passing car. No one seemed to worry about it except for once a year a small band of old men would appear early on the morning of ANZAC day and march from the RSL club in Darling St, near Elliot St, to the Memorial accompanied by the sound of a beating drum. There they would lay a number of wreaths on the old forgotten stones, a bugler would play the last post and then they would wander across the road to the Cricketers Arms Hotel to have a drink and tell story's of previous wars. Every year their numbers dwindled, their RSL club was sold and even the ritual Anzac day march down Darling Street was abandoned. It wasn't until the early 1990's that the old forgotten monument sitting like an abandoned island in the middle of Darling Street was discovered again and council and the local residences decided to move it, renovate it, and build a small surrounding square that would become know as Loyalty Square.