Push to move Blackwood Memorial Soldier from roundabout

HE has stood watch over the much-maligned Blackwood roundabout for close to a century. But as works to fix Adelaide’s worst roundabout get the green light, is it time the Blackwood Memorial Soldier found a new home?

Blackwood Memorial Soldier defenders Tony Mudge and Pat Wilson. Picture: AAP/Russell Millard

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HE HAS stood watch over the much-maligned Blackwood roundabout for close to a century.

Soon after the end of World War I, the residents of Blackwood and surrounding suburbs dug deep to pay for a memorial statue that has, in the years since he was installed in June 1921, become an integral part of the local community.

The Blackwood Memorial Soldier, as he has come to be known, has changed little over the years. His surrounds, however, have.

The Uniting Church was built behind him. Hedges that originally surrounded him are gone. So, too, is the cyclone fence that once made the site an enclosed war memorial.

But one thing has never changed — that patch of land has always been his home.

The residents chose the land all those years ago because it was the most prominent spot in Blackwood.

Little did they know that 97 years later the corner would be carved up for roadworks, putting the soldier at the centre of another war.

After all those years, debate has reignited to move him from his home.

When the idea of moving the soldier was first raised in 2013, the community kicked up a stink.

It has been a hot-button issue for the people of Blackwood. Few topics have elicited such a large quantity of letters to this newspaper and opinions are strongly-held.

To an outsider, the soldier might just be another war memorial in another town. But to locals, it means much more. People care.

Following a petition of more than 2000 signatures back in 2013, Mitcham Council buckled and scrapped its plans to send the soldier to Waite Street Reserve.

But, with a move now necessary for the Blackwood roundabout upgrade, the council has reignited debate on the soldier’s future by including Waite Street Reserve in its public consultation on a new location.

Pat Wilson and Tony Mudge were behind that petition five years ago.

They essentially became the faces of the fight to keep the soldier at the church and are again campaigning — this time to move the soldier slightly back on its current land to save him from leaving the church.

The pair has been walking around Blackwood with placards urging people to vote for keeping the soldier where he is.

To them, a move would be sacrilege.

“It’s part of our history, heritage … so it really goes back to our founding forefathers,” Mr Mudge says.

They have both lived in the area for decades. Mr Wilson moved in 1958 and Mr Mudge at some time during his primary school years. So they have been looking at the statue for some time.

“It reminds me of my own situation,” Mr Mudge says.

“My grandfather was killed at Pozières in July 1916 and my mother was born in May 1916 and my grandfather never saw my mother.

“To me, it means a heck of a lot to preserve these types of monuments. You can’t move them around like pawns in a chess game for the benefit of people that are pushing their own barrows.”

They worry that if he was moved, he would no longer be front of mind for locals.

The soldier in front of the church.

Mr Wilson has been talking to people as he campaigns to keep the soldier in place and believes the public is on his side.

“I had a lady speak to me up the street the other day and she said she was from Stirling,” Mr Wilson says.

“She said, ‘We would love that statue. What we’ve got is a patch of dirt and I heap of rocks.’

“Other people from Cherry Gardens, they want to know how they can vote to keep it there.”

He thinks the council has made a huge error in reigniting the debate.

“The response of the public … we’re getting thumbs up, we’re getting toots on the horn, we’re getting people saying they’re writing to the council,” Mr Wilson says.

“People are not happy with the way it’s all been set up, that’s for sure. You can feel the anger.

“Out of sight, out of mind. That’s the problem.”

The Blackwood Memorial Soldier.

On the other side of the argument is Rob O’Sullivan, who wants to send the soldier to Waite Street Reserve.

He was on board with the idea five years ago and is again championing the reserve as a new home.

He believes that if those residents who originally funded the statue nearly a century ago had their time over, the roundabout would not be their first choice of location.

“I think, given hindsight, the people who put it there with all good intentions would say it’s not what they intended,” Mr O’Sullivan says.

“They wanted it to be touched and seen and people entertained under it. It’s just been choked by cars.”

He wants to put the soldier somewhere people can easily spend time, such as a redeveloped Waite Street Reserve.

“There would be a very small percentage of people who can name one name on that pedestal, so we need to have it far more accessible,” he says.

“It’s unfortunate, but that’s progress. Sentiment cannot stand in the way of development.

“We should be moving on and creating new history. I know that’s pretty savage and harsh but if we didn’t do anything because that’s how we’ve always done it, nothing would ever get done and nothing would be improved.”

For its part, the RSL has repeatedly said it would be happy for the soldier to move Waite St, if that is what the council wanted. It supported the move five years ago on the basis of safety concerns.

Consultation on moving the statue closes on Wednesday, March 21.

Whatever the result, a section of the community will be happy. What section of the community that is remains to be seen.