Tiaro War Memorial

The town of Tiaro is named after the Tiaro sheep station established in 1843. The station, once located on a ridge near the main street of the town, was the first sheep station in the Wide Bay district. The town grew after it became an important stop on the road between the Gympie goldfields and the Port of Maryborough in the 1860s and 70s. The people of Tiaro believe the district presented the highest enlistment rate in Queensland in World War One and its most famous son, Sir General William Glasgow, opened the war memorial in 1921.

The Tiaro War Memorial is unusual in that it includes the names of nurses from the district who served in World War I. A trained nurse was the only wartime role on the front line open to women in World War I. Around 3,000 women served in the Australian Army Nursing Service during the war. Nurses also served on the Homefront, caring for returned soldiers. About 5,000 nurses served in World War II. The military trail includes several places that commemorate the work of Australia’s wartime nurses. Apart from the Tiaro War Memorial, there is the Maryborough War Memorial in Queen’s Park that includes a statue of a World War I nurse; there is also a memorial to war nurses at the Hervey Bay RSL.