The 12 plaques that are located on the podium of this memorial are A3 in size and cast in in a special fine art quality bronze. Smith Sculptors organized their casting overseas. The plaques were checked for quality control after their arrival in Perth with the express purpose of verifying their suitability for installation. The plaques arrived already treated with their patina coating.
The contents of the plaques describe, in a summarised form, the events leading to the Battle of Crete, the Battle of Crete itself and its aftermath. The aftermath of course involved the escape of the soldiers and subsequent bravery of the Cretan villagers and monks in feeding and protecting our soldiers after the surrender. The historical content was primarily written by Wes Olsen, a published WA amateur military historian.
It was obviously not possible to tell the whole story of the Battle, so the text in the plaques have focused on the background, the actions of the 2/11th Battalion (City of Perth) and the Rethymnon sector. The important aspects of the aftermath of the Battle and the symbology present in the design of the memorial were also taken into consideration.
Click below to view the contents of each plaque.
