St John’s Community Church in Kaponga displays the ‘Kaponga Methodist Circuit Roll of Honour 1914 – 1918’ on one wall of the nave. This is a substantial wooden memorial tablet which lists the names of 51 men from local Methodist congregations who served in the First World War, eight of whom died. Another four names were added after the Second World War.
In 2015, the roll of honour from St Mark’s Anglican Church was also placed in the church’s lobby (‘Lest we forget’, Opunake & Coastal News, 10/4/2015, p. 5). This is an oak cabinet displaying metal tags listing the names of men from the congregation who made the ultimate sacrifice: 27 in the First World War and 20 in the Second. The dedicatory plaques below are inscribed: TO THE GLORY OF GOD / AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF / MEN OF THIS CHURCH WHO FOUGHT / AND DIED IN THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR / 1914-1918 / [and] / “AND IN THE WORLD WAR” / 1939 -1945.
The St Mark’s roll of honour is flanked by two wooden cemetery crosses brought back to New Zealand from the battlefield. These commemorate W.A. Ford, who was killed in action on the Somme on 26 September 1916, H.J. Faull, who died of wounds on the Somme on 26 September 1916, and William Faull, who was killed in action at Passchendaele on 17 October 1917. Also on display is a hand-written roll of honour that was compiled during the early part of the war.
Community contributions