Wellington Rifle Club First World War Honour Roll

This war memorial is a simple honour roll tablet made of cast iron. It lists the names of six men from the Wellington Rifle Club who died in the First World War. It is located in the Wellington Museum, formerly the Oxley Museum, and is accompanied by a sign detailing its history. 

The tablet was originally installed at the Anzac Rifle Range in Liverpool, near Sydney, in 1922. It was one of 275 tablets, which included the names of men from rifles clubs across the state who had also served and died. The tablets were erected alongside a new memorial avenue, planted in honour of the fallen. 

The service dedicating the trees and tablets took place on 15 October 1922. Major-General C. B. Brand, the Liverpool Base Commandant, performed the dedication and the service was conducted by Reverend A. E. Talbot, the Dean of Sydney. The well-attended event was reported in The Sydney Morning Herald the next day. The article said:

To commemorate the sacrifice of 603 members of rifle clubs in New South Wales who fell, in the Great War, a memorial avenue of red-gum trees has been planted at Anzac Rifle Range, Liverpool. Yesterday afternoon a service to dedicate the avenue was held on the range. There was a large attendance, including, besides local residents and riflemen, many of the relatives and friends of the fallen. These went up by special train from Sydney for the ceremony. 

The avenue of about 225 West Australian flowering gums has been planted on either side of the roadway leading into the range, known as McAllister Parade. A small brass plate bearing the names of some of the heroes is placed near each tree, and indicates to the observer which of the 150 rifle clubs the men represented. 

According to the sign in the museum, the tablets were moved into storage at Malabar Rifle Range in the 1960s. Volunteers from the Lyndhurst Rifle Club began restoring the tablets related to country rifle clubs in the 1990s, which included the Wellington tablet. The restored roll was presented to the Wellington Historical Society on 26 May 2003 to be placed in the museum.