R.F. Bollard MP unveiled the Ngāruawāhia First World War memorial on 12 November 1922. Reverend C.B.W. Seton MC, who had served as a military chaplain during the war, offered the dedicatory prayer.
The cenotaph was constructed from blocks of grey marble and set on a base of concrete and mortared stones. It was set on a grassy expanse known as ‘The Point’ above the confluence of the Waipa and Waikato Rivers, the scene of the Ngāruawāhia Regatta. (The Pioneer turret memorial, a relic of the New Zealand Wars, was later set up nearby.)
The names of theatres of war were inscribed on the First World War memorial: Samoa, Belgium / Gallipoli / France [and] Egypt / Palestine. Eight dedicatory brass plaques were set around the base of the shaft: two dedicatory plaques and a further six plaques listing the names of the district’s 65 fallen.
A further two plaques listing 24 names were added after the Second World War, and some years later a plaque acknowledging service in South Africa, Korea, Malaya/Borneo and Vietnam was affixed as well. The names of the district’s Second World War fallen are also listed on a tablet in the foyer of the Ngāruawāhia War Memorial Hall, and on a plaque outside the Ngāruawāhia RSA Memorial Club (there are slight discrepancies amongst the three lists).
Sources: ‘Ngaruawahia Memorial: Unveiling of Cenotaph’, NZ Herald, 14/11/1922, p. 6; A.M. Latta, Meeting of the Waters: The Story of Ngaruawahia, Ngaruawhia, 1963, p. 43.
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