Barkly Gardens Playground, Coppin Street, Richmond
Large gardens with a playground comprising separate play items. The stand-out item is a big atom shaped rope climbing frame which leads up to curved tunnel slide. Also a metal arc with a footrest to swing back and forth with the help of two hanging ropes, climbing frame with ladders, monkey bars and slide, birds nest swing, four standard swings, little climbing structure for younger kids with scrambling wall and slide and a sandpit with log steppers on the side partly covered by a shade sail.
Six tables (some shaded), big grassy area dotted with trees, water tap, shelter with seats and toilets.
There is a dog off leash area at the southern end of the park and a Howitzer gun in the middle. Parking was a bit difficult during a week day.
Information about the Howitzer
1. 150 mm Heavy Field Howitzer Model sFH13Manufactured by the German firm Krupp in 1915, this 150 mm Heavy Field Howitzer became the Imperial German Army's principal gun of battle in World War I (WW1). Known to the Allied Forces as the 5.9 Inch Howitzer, Australian soldiers respected this weapon for the damage it was capable of inflicting on front line trenches and on artillery batteries behind the front lines.
This gun, serial number 548, was captured by the Australian Corps in northern France under Lieutenant General Sir John Monash in September 1918.
On 18 September 1918, as part of an Allied offensive that would ultimately lead to German defeat, the 1st and 4th Divisions of the Australian Imperial Force took a major part in attacking and breaching the Hindenburg Outpost Line, part of the Germans' heavily protected defensive zone.
The Australians' striking success in breaking through German defences, supported by British and French forces, opened the way to a direct assault on the main German defensive position. The Allied offensive persisted until the German command agreed to an armistice, on 11 November 1918. On 18 September alone, Australian forces suffered over 1260 casualties, but succeeded in taking 4300 prisoners and 76 guns like this one.
2. Recognition for Collingwood
Gun 548 arrived in Melbourne in 1919, and was initially stored in the Domain, on St Kilda Road, with other captured weapons, including field guns, trench mortars and machine guns. Here it awaited distribution by the Commonwealth Trophies Committee, whose task was to allocate trophies to local municipalities.
Local communities widely regarded war trophies as a recognition of their contribution to the war. Large weapons such as field guns could " be particularly valued as an affirmation of a community's sacrifices, while other smaller trophies such as machine guns were often derided as an affront to community pride. Thus when offered a howitzer in 1921, the then Collingwood council voted unanimously to accept the gun into its care.
The City of Collingwood placed the gun on display in Darling Gardens, facing Noddle Street, where it remained for more than ninety years.
3. 'A relic of barbarism' Displaying weapons of war in public space could be controversial. To some, the presentation of the gun acknowledged local people's sacrifices, including both those who enlisted and the families who watched them depart. It was a sign of community pride in what their soldiers achieved. It could also recognise what communities had endured in sending their loved ones away to war.
But the gun also attracted anti-war sentiments in Collingwood. In 1933 Councillor Laurie Marshall described the object as an instrument, of killing and 'a relic of barbarism'. He urged the Council to have the gun-and any others like it - removed from public view. Marshall even recommended returning the gun to Germany as a gesture of goodwill and friendship, at a time when fears of future wars were beginning to rise again.
The attempt to remove the gun failed, but it caused local people to consider its meaning. While some saw it as celebrating violence and conflict, others insisted that it reflected the glory of the soldiers' sacrifices and achievements.
Councillor and returned soldier William Ruthven, VC, attempted to reconcile the two parties. The gun commemorated the deeds of soldiers, he insisted, but it could also act as a warning. Here was a symbol of destruction around which children could be instructed in the horrors of war, while recognising the sacrifices of those who died.
4. Removal and restoration
Once installed in outdoor spaces, maintaining large weapons of war proved difficult. Wooden parts deteriorated and metal components rusted and corroded. Before and after World War 2, numerous municipal councils sought to relieve themselves of responsibility for maintaining trophy guns due to their deteriorated state.
Yarra City Council removed the Collingwood gun from Darling Gardens in 2013, and began to evaluate its future. Relatively few trophy guns remain on public display, and community groups including the Richmond Returned and Services League, Collingwood Historical Society, and the Richmond and Burnley Historical Society, subsequently advocated for the restoration of the gun and its reinstallation.
Following a decision of the Council, restoration work commenced in 2018. This included stabilisation of metal components and repainting in the gun's original camouflage scheme. The gun's camouflage was designed to avoid detection from both the ground and air. It is reproduced here with reference to original photographic sources and existing museum pieces from the Australian War Memorial and other collections.
5. A new home In October 2019, Yarra City Council reinstalled Collingwood's trophy gun in the Barkly Gardens. It flanks the former City of Richmond's memorial to its soldiers in two world wars, Korea, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam.
On the memorial's other flank is planted a descendant of the Lone Pine tree that originally stood on the Gallipoli battlefields in 1915. Together they represent the start and end of the terrible conflict of 1914-1918. They ask us to think again about the experience and impact of war in our own communities,
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Location
Cnr Coppin Street and Barkly Avenue, Richmond 3121 Map
