A tribute of 13,000 hand-crafted poppies was unveiled at the state's only Anzac memorial hospital in Katoomba this Tuesday, April 21.
The poppies cover the walls of Blue Mountains District ANZAC Memorial Hospital (BMDAMH) in a brilliant red, filling the entrance foyer, surrounding the honour boards bearing the names of 139 Blue Mountains soldiers killed during World War I and flowing into the halls of the hospital.
"As the only Anzac memorial hospital in New South Wales, we felt it was particularly important to mark the Anzac centenary with a significant tribute," said the hospital's general manager Andrea Williams.
"We aimed to create a tribute of 5000 poppies but after hospital staff and our auxiliary members promoted the project online, on radio and in the local newspaper, the poppies started flooding in from all around Australia. The response has been both wonderful and incredible," she said.
"We received poppies from all over the Blue Mountains, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and the Hunter. Bags of poppies were still arriving as hospital staff, auxiliary and community members began working bees to assemble the poppy tribute walls. Attaching the poppies to shade cloth to create these poppy walls was a mammoth task."
Once collated, the knit, crochet, plastic, paper and felt poppies could not be contained within the hospital's heritage-listed memorial foyer, and were extended down the corridors of the hospital.
"The memorial entrance to the hospital is quite special to this community. The sheer volume of poppies that we received to create this memorial highlights how important Anzac Day and the memory of our Anzcs is to this community. This tribute also honours the legacy of those who established this ANZAC Memorial Hospital," said Ms Williams.
The hospital was established and funded by the Blue Mountains community shortly after World War I. With many Blue Mountains families trying to cope with losses from the Gallipoli campaign, the hospital's fundraising committee proposed that the new hospital be a peace memorial. The committee determined the hospital would bear the name 'ANZAC' and the names of 139 fallen Blue Mountains soldiers killed during the Great War be placed on marble tablets in the hospital's main entrance to honour the loss suffered by the community.
The poppy tribute will remain at the hospital throughout the ANZAC Centenarycommemorations, with plans underway to preserve this special tribute.
Members of the public are encouraged to visit the hospital to view the poppies.
Blue Mountains District Anzac Memorial Hospital is located on the corner of the Great Western Highway and Woodlands Road, Katoomba.
