Hook war memorials

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Hook war memorials in 2010

The Hook Soldiers' Memorial Hall was formally opened on 29 August 1922. The Hook roll of honour was unveiled in the hall on the same day. The black granite memorial tablet listed the names of nine local men who had given their lives: Henry Adamson, John Bean, Ben A. Buckley, Stanley F. Bell, John Englebrecht, Thomas W. Haynes, James Gynes, David J. Gynes, and William Laughton.

After the Second World War, a memorial entrance way with Timaru bluestone pillars and wrought iron gates was erected outside the hall. The gateposts incorporated two engraved and decorated granite tablets. The inscription on the left-hand one reads: "This entrance was built / in honoured memory / of those men of / the Hook District / who gave their lives / while on active service / with / the Army and Air Force / in the World War / 1939-1945". It is decorated with ferns in each corner.

The right-hand tablet records the names of local servicemen who were killed in WWII: "For King and Country / 1939-1945 / David S. Barbour / George T. Croft / Kenneth J. Johnson / James B. Johnson / 'They gave their lives that we may live.'" It is decorated with crossed flagstaffs - the Union Jack and the New Zealand flag - and a wreath. 

In the hall grounds is also a small engraved granite tablet honouring ex-pupils of Hook School who died on active service during the Second World War. This was presumably transferred from the local school when the school closed down in 1997.