The Largest War Memorial in The World is a 243 Kilometer Highway

When the First World War ended, the soldiers who had participated in it and were lucky enough to survive, returned to their homes. As in all wars, some adapted better than others on their return, but many found themselves with the unpleasant situation of being unemployed. In the case of the Australian soldiers, those who landed on April 25, 1915 in Gallipoli and forced the Ottoman army to surrender in October 1918 with the capture of Gaza and Jerusalem, of the more than 300,000 sent to the front, 60,000 never returned and another 150,000 were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. The curves of the Great Ocean Road as viewed from Teddy's Lookout south of Lorne in Victoria, Australia. Photo: Diliff/Wikimedia Commons So that those who were able to return would have at least some employment, the chairman of the country's roads board, William Calder, proposed using the returned soldiers to build a road connecting the hitherto isolated settlements on Australia's southwest coast. Study of the layout of what was provisionally called the South Coast Road began in 1918. A route was designed starting from the town of Barwon Heads, hugging the coast west around Cape Otway, and ending near Warrnambool. In order to undertake the project, a company called the Great Ocean Road Trust was formed, headed by the country's president (who donated 3,000 pounds). The company managed to raise 81,000 pounds through private subscriptions and loans. That money would be paid back by charging drivers a toll for using the future highway. Once the debt was paid off, the road would become public property. The Great Ocean Road. Photo: Arnas Goldberg/Wikimedia Commons Construction began on September 19, 1919 with the participation of 3,000 Australian soldiers who had fought in the First World War. The work was done mainly by hand, with explosives, picks, shovels and wheelbarrows and very little machinery.