Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Cenotaph Germiston, Gauteng George Esslemont Gordon LEITH: Architect KWP CREATE ARCHITECTS and LANDSCAPE PLANNERS: Project Architect Almer DU PISANIE: Design Architect Nicholas John CLARKE: Heritage Architect

Date: 1924 : 2018 Type: Memorial Style: Neo-Classical Beaux Arts Status: Restored

Participation of South African citizens in the Great War (World War I 1914-1918) was voluntary. This made the losses sustained all the more poignant. The Germiston Cenotaph was unveiled on 24 October 1924, dedicated "to our Glorious dead." The designer has not been traced yet, but the design has a very clear relationship with the London Cenotaph designed by Sir Edwin LUTYENS and unveiled in 1920. Many more cenotaphs were modelled on the mould of the Lutyens design and include that of Hong Kong. Auckland, Toronto, and Hamilton, Bermuda. The Germiston Cenotaph therefore is a member of an international family of cenotaphs, all following the same basic design. The Cenotaph has also suffered from the ravages of time and abandonment. The bronze plaques were stolen in 2013. It now stands abandoned and vandalised. As part of the rejuvenation of the Carnegie Library - Germiston Theatre, the Commonwealth Memorial forms an integral part of the landscape design for the remainder of the square: The Commonwealth War Memorial be cleaned; The replicas of the stolen brass plaques be installed; A commemoration of the African contribution to the war effort of the First World War be added to the extant memorial.