Most importantly, it is the centre for Sydney's main Anzac and Armistice Day dawn service ceremonies, regularly drawing thousands of attendees.

It was based an Australian reworking of a new type of memorial developed in London by Edwin Lutyens for Whitehall in 1919 as a 'tomb on pylon, inscribed only with words composed by the Prime Minister, Lloyd George, "The Glorious Dead" '.

A proposed competition to design the Cenotaph did not eventuate because Lang instead approached sculptor Sir Bertram Mackennal when he was visiting Sydney from England and commissioned him to undertake the work.

He also constructed the statues of Cardinal Patrick Moran and Archbishop Michael Kelly which stand at the southern end of St Mary's Cathedral.

It was disliked by some critics at that time, such as Building magazine's George Taylor who charged that it was "a mere tombstone for people to put wreaths up against".

Mackennnal's depiction may have been influenced by the sculpture designed for the Royal Artillery Memorial in London by Charles Sargeant Jagger, whose figures were also realistic rather than stylised.

[3]: 300–1  The designs for the figures were also criticised for being "at ease" without their arms reversed - the normal mourning stance for military personnel at memorial ceremonies.

[1][3]: 300 In March 1927, Mackennal arranged for Dorman Long & Co to erect the granite pedestal and John Bradfield (who was on the Memorial Committee) to supervise.

He was part of the Anzac force that landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, the morning of his 43rd birthday and served as a stretcher-bearer with 15 Infantry Battalion and later 4 Field Ambulance.

He returned to Australia in January 1918 and was discharged as a Lance Sergeant, ending his AIF service as a medical orderly at the military hospital at Randwick.

The completed memorial was officially unveiled by NSW Premier Thomas Bavin on 21 February 1929 with a speech by Sir John Monash.

At dawn on Anzac Day, 25 April 1927, five returned men happened upon an elderly woman laying a wreath at the still incomplete Cenotaph.

Impressed by the solemnity of the moment, they convinced the secretary of the Australian Legion (E. A. Rushbrook MBE) to conduct an official service at dawn at the Sydney Cenotaph on 25 April 1928.

The rising sun with its promise of a bright new day, the memory of the tension of waiting for the whistle blast that signalled the order to advance and the badge which Australian soldiers of the AIF wore on their slouch hats brings a complex imagery into play at every Dawn Service.

[17] Peace groups and feminist organisations opposed to aspects of the Anzac legend from the 1970s onward have focused their protests on the Cenotaph at Martin Place.

The altar stone, quarried in Moruya in 1927, is 3.05m long, 1.65m wide and 1.25m high sitting above a 970mm stepped base, which runs east to west following the street alignment of Martin Place.

[1] The larger than life size sculptures of servicemen at the east and west ends are by Australian expatriate sculptor Bertram Mackennal and stand on Moruya granite plinths.

[1] The model for the soldier was Private William Pigott Darby from the 15th Infantry Battalion (Gallipoli & the Western Front; wounded at Pozières) and 4th Field Ambulance AIF.

[5][1] As at 12 November 2009, The Cenotaph is of State historical significance for its embodiment of collective grief at the loss of life by Australian servicemen in World War I.

It is of State aesthetic significance as an Australian reworking of the British prototype cenotaph developed by Edwin Lutyens for Whitehall in 1919, and as an example of the monumental sculpture work of Bertram Mackennal.

The Cenotaph is of State social significance as a powerful focal point for memorial services in NSW associated with all wars and conflicts.

The Cenotaph is of State historical significance for its embodiment of collective grief at the loss of Australian servicemen and women's lives in World War I.

Positioned in Martin Place where so many recruiting rallies and wartime events occurred, the Cenotaph is physically and symbolically linked to the Australian experience of the Great War.

It is also of State significance for its association with the people and organisations that have commemorated those lives lost at war, especially the Returned Servicemen's League (RSL), which maintains a custodial role over the monument.

Prominent individuals associated with the Cenotaph include its sculptor, Bertram Mackennal (the first Australian-born artist to be knighted), JJ Bradfield who supervised its erection and the NSW premier JT Lang whose government funded it.

The design of this "altar of remembrance", as Mackennal described it, is unusual in its simplicity - a rectangular block of granite, flanked by realistic, slightly larger than life sized figures depicting a soldier and a sailor, standing guard.

The Cenotaph is of State social significance for its long-time role as a ceremonial focus for memorial services by numerous veterans' organizations, individuals and groups representing civilians affected by war.

Its role in the inauguration of the Dawn Service, a major part of every Anzac Day ceremony, enhances its association with a deeply felt strand of popular remembrance.

Positioned in a pedestrian thoroughfare in Sydney's central business district it maintains a solemn reminder of the sacrifices that Australians have made at war.

Along with the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, the Cenotaph is widely regarded as a principal monument in NSW to the servicemen and women who died on active service in war.