Avenue a war memorial
The Press 160 Years is a series marking the launch of The Press newspaper in Christchurch on May 25, 1861. Between now and the anniversary, The Press will revisit stories from every year of publication.
‘‘The ceremonial opening and dedication of Memorial avenue today will bring to a fitting end the community’s part in providing a dignified and worthy memorial to the Second World War dead of Christchurch,’’ The Press wrote in an editorial on November 26, 1959.
‘‘In 1945, from a number of proposals to provide a memorial to airmen who died in the war the memorial road suggestion found most favour; it was agreed that there could be no better memorial than a gracious, tree-lined highway leading from the airport to the city.’’
Work only properly began after Canterbury’s centenary celebrations in 1951, when various council groups and boards formed the Burnside Road Memorial Committee.
‘‘Citizens and visitors alike will agree that Christchurch has a worthy war memorial and superb civic asset. Already the avenue makes an impressive entrance to the city, especially at night.’’
It may have been the most rapturous newspaper editorial ever written about a road. The opening of the avenue coincided with new growth in the booming northwest of the city. Burnside High School and Jellie Park both opened a year later, in 1960, as did a new Christchurch Airport terminal.
The avenue was officially opened by the Governor-General, Lord Cobham, who also lent his name to the area’s intermediate school.
Five Vampire jet fighters from the Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Ohakea flew over the ceremony in formation, making the shape of a cross. Burnside Road Memorial Committee chairman William Laing urged future drivers to think at least once as they used it that it was a memorial.
Lord Cobham also struck an elegiac note.
‘‘For those who had eyes to see it, the avenue of trees would always remain a symbol of life. The trees would ever remind citizens of the eternal life the Lord promised to those who served him well,’’ he said.