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\u201cIt\u2019s the only Australian Arch, and it gives me enormous pride to see it projected on the wall of the most famous Arch in the world, the Arch de Triumph.\u201d<\/p>\n
The foundation stone was laid in February of 1920 and the Arch was officially opened three-and-a-half months later on 2 June.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrince Edward, the Prince of Wales did the honours, and as I understand it, it was a cold, showery day,\u201d Mr Snowden laughed.<\/p>\n
Although the use of \u2018victory\u2019 could be a \u201cbreast beating statement,\u201d he likes to view it as something more \u201csensitive and sympathetic,\u201d responding to sadness and grief servicepeople\u2019s families felt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI prefer to see it as a comfort or consolation to the Ballarat community who had come through four years of desperate anxiety.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to think, at least putting the word victory up there in 1920, was something of comfort to all those families, to think their sons\u2019 sacrifice was not in vain,\u201d Mr Snowden said.<\/p>\n
Historian, Phil Roberts wrote Avenue of Memories<\/em> about the Arch precinct, which won last year\u2019s Victorian Premier\u2019s History Award. He agreed \u2018victory\u2019 was an imperialistic term.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the time, the allies believed they\u2019d won the war… It was more sheer exhaustion from both sides after four-and-half years of trench warfare,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the years, that term has really changed, or the emphasis has at the Arch. Especially with the addition of the Garden of the Grieving mother.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the Arch\u2019s broader story is \u201cfascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe building of the Arch\u2019s funds mainly came from the first women\u2019s football match in Victoria, which was in 1918 at the Eastern Oval,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the Arch was being built, there wasn\u2019t any architect, which was unusual. The bricklayers, and the head bricklayer who was only in his 20s, George Brookes \u2013worked it out as they built it.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had advertised for people to design it, but it didn\u2019t end up happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
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