Stonemason discovers 50-year-old bullet wounds to Upper Coomera’s war memorial in restoration

YOU expect bullets to fly at war but not at a memorial to a conflict, however a northern Gold Coast cenotaph was once used for target practice

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YOU expect bullets to fly in war — but not at a memorial to a conflict.

But that is exactly what experienced stonemason Verner Nielsen found when he began work to restore Upper Coomera’s war memorial last month.

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The 68-year-old, who has previously worked on restoring monuments and buildings, was stunned to find chips out of the slouch hat wearing soldier which were the unmistakable result of being peppered with .22 calibre bullets.

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He said the damage was surprising but easily fixable.

The damage to the Upper Coomera Cenotaph is quite visible in places. Photos: Verner Nielson.

“When I first started working on it I thought the damage was just a few chips taken out of it but there were around 100 bullet holes, including one large .22 calibre hit behind the soldier’s ear,” he said.

“The damage was at least 50 years old and the extent of it was not clearly visible until I really got into it.

“To restore it properly I had to remove up to 10mm of damage from the sandstone and it is amazing to see the difference from when I started to now.”

The long-time Gold Coast resident will be in the large crowd watching on at the April 25 ceremony.

The memorial was built in early 1918 as the war on the western front raged on.

It was unveiled on May 18, 1918 by MP, E.H Macartney and Coomera District Patriotic Committee chairman, W.A Foxwell.

It bears plaques listing the names of soldiers who died during the first and second world wars.

Mr Nielsen will complete his work on the 97-year-old memorial in coming days before it is unveiled to the public on Anzac Day.

The restoration work comes after the Rotary Club of Coomera Valley secured a federal grant to fund the works.

Originally published as Stonemason discovers 50-year-old bullet wounds to Upper Coomera’s war memorial in restoration