Roy Inwood - Memorial Controversies

Memorial Controversies

In his will Roy Inwood bequeathed all his war medals to the 10th Battalion Club who, when informed, indicated they would donate the Victoria Cross itself to the Australian War Memorial. Inwood objected and stated he wanted the medal to remain in Adelaide. In June 1971, with Inwood's consent, the VC was presented to the City of Adelaide. The VC was stored in the high security vault in the Council’s Archives while a replica was put on display.

In 2005 Inwood's VC became the centre of considerable media and community debate with calls for it to be displayed in the Australian War Memorial's national Victoria Cross Collection. After consulting with the Inwood family and other interested parties, it was decided to honour Inwood’s dying wishes. In December 2005 funds were allocated to provide security so the original Victoria Cross could be displayed in the Adelaide Town Hall instead of the replica. In 2007 the debate briefly reignited and the matter remains a "touchy" subject.

The Other Ranks Mess at the Torrens Parade Ground, Adelaide, is called the Roy Inwood Club. In 2008 it was debated whether to call the new tunnel under Anzac Highway either "Inwood Underpass" or "Blackburn Underpass" after another South Australian who won a VC in 1916, Brigadier Arthur Seaforth Blackburn. The Returned and Services League of Australia objected to naming the tunnel after a specific veteran as inappropriate saying it should be named after a major World War I battle ground in line with the highways World War I memorial theme. On completion, the tunnel was named the Gallipoli Underpass.