[1] The Rockhampton War Memorial was unveiled on 16 October 1924 by the Governor of Queensland Sir Matthew Nathan.

[1] A public meeting was held in February 1919, when it was decided to erect a memorial to those who served in the First World War.

In 1921, a site was selected on the riverbank and a national design competition was announced by the newly formed Central Queensland War Memorial Committee.

Their design, at a cost of £2,654 was accepted and Rockhampton masons, F M Allen were contracted to complete the work.

Edwin Hockings was articled to Richard Gailey and, while working there, won a competition for the design of Rockhampton Girls Grammar School.

The Fitzroy river was later discovered by the Archer brothers in 1853 and lead to the establishment and success of the region as a pastoral district.

[1] Even before the end of the war, memorials became a spontaneous and highly visible expression of national grief.

The word "cenotaph", commonly applied to war memorials at the time, literally means "empty tomb".

Many memorials honour all who served from a locality, not just the dead, providing valuable evidence of community involvement in the war.

[1] Australian war memorials are also valuable evidence of imperial and national loyalties, at the time, not seen as conflicting; the skills of local stonemasons, metalworkers and architects; and of popular taste.

[1] Many of the First World War monuments have been updated to record local involvement in later conflicts, and some have fallen victim to unsympathetic re-location and repair.

The path surrounds grass mound, forming a circle which is reinforced by garden beds and evenly spaced Canary Island Date Palms (Phoenix canariensis), traditionally a symbol of victory.

On the front face of the dado are the words IN REMEMBRANCE TO THOSE WHO FELL and the dates of the First World War and later conflicts.

[1] Rockhampton War Memorial was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.

War Memorials are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as they are representative of a recurrent theme that involved most communities throughout the state.

The monuments manifest a unique documentary record and are demonstrative of popular taste in the inter-war period.