Home of Memorials

This part of Park 12 has been called Peace Park since 1986, a time when many in the community were particularly focused on achieving peace in the world, and would hold marches and gatherings aimed at raising awareness about this issue. A number of memorials to significant people and causes can be found in this park, but not all of them are related to the theme of “peace”.

The earliest memorial here is of George V (1865-1936), who reigned from 1910. In January 1936, King George V passed away, prompting the formation of a committee in Adelaide to raise funds for a memorial. The English sculptor, Maurice Lambert, son of the WWI artist George Lambert, was engaged in 1935. The proposal was then delayed by World War II and not completed until 1948.

The South Australian Naval Memorial Garden was opened on 8 April 1995 by Commander C J Bates. The two arcing garden strips lined with 32 bronze plaques represent curved flukes of an anchor.

The Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile Memorial was unveiled on 2 November 1986 by the Minister of Sport & Recreation, Kym Mayes to record the designation of Peace Park to the main portion of Park 12 and the opening of a mile long walking / recreation pathway.

The Chinese Freedom and Democracy Memorial was erected in 1989 and was dedicated to those who gave their lives for freedom and democracy in Tiananmen Square, Beijing in June 1989.

The Peace Pole is one of more than 250,000 such poles placed around the world, with inscriptions of the wording “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in different languages. The Peace Pole Project is promoted by the World Peace Prayer Society, a non-sectarian pacifist organisation founded in 1955 by Masahisa Goi in Japan.

The America Remembers Memorial honours the American Ex-Servicemen’s Association of South Australia, which was installed in 1996.

The daisy monument to the north of the park is dedicated to Wards of the State and Forgotten Australians, designed by Craig Andrae and unveiled in 2010.

As you walk further into the park, you will see the Town Clerk’s Walk. This avenue is lined with trees and was created under Town Clerk Worsnop in the 1860s as a pedestrian access route.

Located on the corner of War Memorial Drive and Sir Edwin Smith Avenue is a bronze sign, which commemorates the opening of the first stage of War Memorial Drive in 1919 and the completion of the fourth stage in 1925.

War Memorial Drive was modelled on the original recreational carriageways intended to traverse the Park Lands by John Ednie Brown in his 1880 “Report on a System of Planting the Adelaide Park Lands” and championed by the City Gardener, August Pelzer.

The Kaurna people are the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the Adelaide Plains. The park was named “Karrawirra” because it is close to the River Torrens, which is known as “Karrawirra Pari” or “Red Gum Forest River”, due to the trees which lined the river.