Hyde Park

Hyde Park is a park in London. It is also a park in Central Sydney. And it always reminds me of a murder mystery story by Anne Perry called the Hyde Park Headsman. It has a series of particularly gruesome murders where the killer takes the victims' heads and leaves the bodies sitting in various locations as if they were simply resting. It's a good book.

But this was my last day in Sydney, and I thought I might have a look around Hyde Park. This park is a spot where Sydney, and Australia, pay tribute to some of the important people in the history of the country. The first and foremost of these is the man who first laid eyes on the continent, or at least the first of the Europeans. That is none other than Captain Cook.

Much of the rest of the park is given over to remembering those that gave their lives in the two World Wars, and to commemorate their sacrifice. One man, a J. F. Archibald, was so moved by the connection between Australia and France that he donated a fountain to that memory and to remind Australians of it.

And there is also the War Memorial to all of those who died in the various wars involving Australian service personnel.

Inside are the fairly standard memorials to those who have fallen. There is an eternal flame. There are listings of the campaigns in which Australians were involved.

There is a nice statue in the center, presumably to evoke the sacrifice these people made for the freedom of Australia and the world.

And there is a somewhat unique form of offering as well. On the ceiling of the building thousands and thousands of gold stars were pasted. (They are not real gold, just gold painted stars.) When the memorial building was being constructed, there was not enough money to complete it. In order to raise the remaining funds, the stars were placed on offer to be purchased in honour of someone who had died in the Great War. (The war memorial was constructed between the two world wars.)

Now, people are still able to dedicate a star to an Australian serviceman or woman. They are no longer the gold stars on the ceiling, but paper stars. They are also now free of charge. The name of a deceased service man or woman is written on the star and placed in a receptacle inside the building. And in November of this past year, these stars were burned. The ashes will be carried to significant Australian battle sites where the ashes will be scattered in memorial ceremonies. I kind of like that whole idea. The whole of Hyde Park was kind of interesting for all of its memorial aspects.