The Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch

From Anglesea, a short 15 min./15.8-km. drive, via the Great Ocean Road/B100, 5 kms. after the town of Aireys Inlet,  brought us to our next stopover – the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, the gateway to the Great Ocean Road.  Possibly the most photographed spot on the Great Ocean Road, this is made evident by cars and buses parked on a car park on the ocean side of the road, with people hopping out to take photos.

Check out “The Great Ocean Road Adventure Tour: Anglesea”

The iconic Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, the longest  war memorial in the world, was built in honor of the 3,000 returned servicemen who worked on the road after World War I and as a memorial to Mr. W.B McCormack, honorary engineer to the Great Ocean Road Trust.

Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch (Australia)

On September 19, 1919, they started construction on the Great Ocean Road and, in November 1932, completed the 243 km. (151 mi.) stretch of road which extends from the town of  Torquay to  Allansford, near Warrnambool, the largest city along the road.

Commemorative plaque

Due to the grueling task of building a road by hand, some soldiers lost their lives during the construction of the road. Their story is recorded on boards at the site.

Bronze statue of The Diggers

A bronze sculpture on the south side of the arch, unveiled on April 13, 2007 (the road’s 75th anniversary) by Bruce Billson (MP Minister for Veteran Affairs), features two returned soldiers working on the Great Ocean Road.  There are also commemorative plaques for the arches built and also plaques for the 50th and 75th anniversary of the road’s opening as well as an information board.

The Diggers plaque

Over the decades, the arch was replaced a few more times. The first arch, erected in 1939, weighed in at 50 tons.  To reimburse the cost of the construction, this first arch was one of the original toll points where money was collected from those travelling along the road. Once the cost of building the road was paid off, the toll point was taken down and a second arch, made mostly with wood, was built in 1973.  This arch was ruined when Ash Wednesday bush fires set it ablaze on February 1983.

Commemorative plaques

In the 1970’s, the government, seeing the arch as a hazard to drivers, had plans to take the Memorial Arch down but it was shot down as it was considered a lack of respect for the returned soldiers of World War I.

The third arch, made mostly with metal, was destroyed when a truck ran into the side of the arch.  The present Memorial Arch, the fourth on the site, was made out of wood and has sides made out of stone and cement for support. The original sign still sits on the top of the arch.

The author

From the arch, a sandy trail leads to easy access to the beige sand beach where we stretched our legs and took in the panorama of beach meeting forests.

Jandy and Grace

Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch: 689/721 Great Ocean Rd., Eastern View, Victoria 3231, Australia