In memoriam

South Auckland’s First World War memorials

Bruce Ringer

After the dreadful days of the First World War were over, most New Zealand communities sought to find some public way of commemorating their loss. On 19 July 1919 a commemorative oak tree was planted in Central Park, Papakura. An avenue of memorial trees was similarly planted in Hall Road, Manurewa, on 27 July 1919. Papakura’s peace oak tree still survives today, although Manurewa’s memorial avenue does not.

Many communities sought to erect more permanent memorials. On 15 November 1920 the residents of Alfriston and Brookby gathered to unveil a plain but dignified granite obelisk on the Alfriston-Brookby road inscribed with the names of their fallen. The same day the residents of the tiny settlement of Awhitu on the Manukau Peninsula unveiled their own granite obelisk. The Awhitu roll of honour listed the names of 41 local men who had served during the war, eight of whom had died.

As far as can be ascertained, these memorials were the first such monuments erected in South Auckland. The next was the Manurewa war memorial, unveiled by Prime Minister William Massey on 2 January 1921, outside the Manurewa School. Obelisks were similarly erected at Howick (1921?), Pokeno (25 April 1921), Ardmore (15 May 1921), Waiuku (9 June 1921), Clevedon (28 August 1921), East Tamaki (23 April 1922), and Whangarata (15 September 1924).

Opening day of the Manurewa Infant School, 8 September 1921, Manurewa First World War memorial in the foreground. (Manukau Research Library, Manurewa Historical Society Collection, MNA: I, 2, no. B9)

View large image (96KB)

Buckland (25 April 1921) opted for a Celtic cross on a plinth, Drury (25 April 1922) for a cenotaph. The Papakura-Karaka memorial (5 June 1921) included statues of a soldier and a recumbent lion. At Mercer (28 April 1922) a statue of a soldier was set upon a gunboat turret which survived from the days of the Waikato war. Pukekohe (6 November 1921) constructed a memorial gate, on one pillar of which was the finely carved effigy of a soldier for which a local ex-serviceman served as the model. Papatoetoe also erected memorial gates (29 September 1922).

Some communities opted for community buildings rather than ornamental memorials. Waiuku, where the Franklin Memorial Hospital was opened on 28 April 1923, had both. At Bombay a five-acre recreation ground with tennis courts, a football pavilion and a memorial arch was opened on 22 November 1923. The substantial, brick-built Tuakau War Memorial Hall was opened on 15 September 1924; the more modestly constructed Patumahoe War Memorial Hall on 1 July 1925. Mauku's Victory Hall was opened on 7 June 1922, although as the name suggests this was intended to commemorate victory in the war rather than serve as a memorial.

In a number of cases, schools, churches and other institutions set up their own memorials. Christ Church Anglican Church in Papakura was substantially extended by the addition of a War Memorial Sanctuary (4 August 1923). Memorial gates were erected at the Otahuhu Primary School (17 October 1925); a set of memorial stones were put in place at Pukekohe Primary School; and King's College commemorated the sacrifice of 109 old boys by the erection of a substantial chapel with fine stained glass windows (25 April 1925).

The borough of Otahuhu commissioned a fine bronze statue of a mounted soldier, unveiled on 25 April 1928. This was almost - but not quite - the last such ceremony in the region. Waiau Pa’s First World War memorial stone was not unveiled until 25 April 1937, a little more than two years before the next world war broke out.  

For more information: see Manukau’s Journey, New Zealand History Online: The Memorials Register.
 
Publication record: first published in Connexions, no. 95, May 2008, p. 12. Revised and corrected for publication on the Manukau Libraries website in September 2009.

Copyright © Manukau Libraries. This text may be freely used for the purposes of private study or research and for non-commercial publication provided that the author and Manukau Libraries are duly acknowledged.

back to top