The Auroa Memorial Hall was formally opened on 3 March 1956. A freestanding memorial wall in front of the hall incorporates a granite plaque inscribed with the names of six men from the district who gave their lives. This reads: WORLD WAR / 1939 [–] 1945 / ROLL OF HONOUR / L.A.C. FUREY PTE. C. MURFITT. / SGT. PILOT P.J. HOOPER. / 2ND LT. C.J. ODEA. PTE C. MCLEAN. / GNR. J. SKINNER. / ‘WE WILL REMEMBER THEM’. (These names have also been added to the Auroa First World War memorial cenotaph.) Neatly trimmed bushes line the path between the memorial wall and the hall, each with its own memorial plaque.
The roll of honour inside the hall lists the names of 34 men from the district who served in the First World War and 42 who served in the Second World War.
The hall was badly damaged by fire in 1974 but reopened in May 1974. It has sometimes been referred to as the Auroa Soldiers’ Memorial Hall or the Auroa War Memorial Hall.
See: Auroa School and Districts Centennial, Stratford, 1991, pp. 10, 47-8, 53; ‘Auroa War Memorial Hall’, Kete New Plymouth (gives access to the souvenir programme of the original opening ceremony, etc.)
Images and text: Bruce Ringer, 2017