The War Memorial is located on Monument Hill in the suburb of Fremantle, approximately 43 metres (141 ft) above sea level.

Various landscaping works were carried out between 1904 and 1910, including the planting of trees, and construction of footpaths, drinking fountains, and fixed jarrah seats.

[10] A meeting of the committee in April 1922, presided over by the Mayor of Fremantle, Frank Ernest Gibson, MLA, tentatively accepted the design of Messrs. Wilkinson and Ross, of Claremont, with second place going to Mr. S. Rosenthal, of Perth.

[15] Further fundraising continued throughout the following year, with the memorial committee, now headed by Gibson and William Watson, the federal member for the seat of Fremantle, commencing a campaign to exploit the mercantile community of the town, which had "not yet been properly canvassed", in March 1923.

[16] A meeting of the committee in November 1923, presided over by Mrs. F. Instone, recommended that tenders be called for the construction of the monument, after a discussion in which the idea was raised that only a portion of the contract be proceeded with, with the object of "shaming people into contributing towards the fund of having the memorial completed".

J. W. Bateman, who had previously resigned from the committee in protest at the poor response of shipping and commercial interests, was present at the meeting by invitation.

The committee also moved to approach the architects Allen and Nicholas, who had gratuitously undertaken the role of supervisors in the construction of the monument, to secure estimates for the cost of the memorial.

One of the architects, Mr. Allen, altered some of the specifications of the monument in order to save money, substituting concrete for steel for certain work, and removing a spiral staircase and stone seats at the base of the hill.

The noted Italian-born sculptor Pietro Porcelli was placed in charge of the construction, having previously designed the Explorers' Monument and a statue of C. Y. O'Connor in Fremantle.

A further memorial, consisting of a ship's anchor resting on a raised base, was unveiled 23 October 1994 by Sir Francis Burt, marking Royal Navy personnel of the Second World War.