Personal Experience, Public Memory: Rockdale’s Monuments to Military Service (Entry for 2015 Ron Rathbone Local History Prize), The author, Rockdale, 2015
The author provides a detailed examination of monuments and memorials in this Sydney suburb, covering street and locality names, bricks and mortar monuments, gardens and honour boards, down to virtual memorials today, with attention paid to the efforts of various local identities, churches and the RSL along the way to preserve the memory of local people. He notes that the first Anzac Day ceremony in Rockdale was held on 25 April 1916 and recommends there be a centenary service in 2016. There are copious notes.
Panayiotis Diamadis is a history teacher at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview, and a casual academic at the University of Technology, Sydney. The essay was runner-up for the prize. Most of the entries are linked from the Rockdale City Council website. The winning entry was Rocky Point Road: the First 50 Years 1839-1889 by Garry Darby.
