Memory box
We’re on the home straight. Later in the year we will mark the end of World War I and then, after a salute to the period following the peace when demobilisation occurred, the national commemorations will come to an end.
The WW100 theme for the year is ‘the darkness before the dawn’ and no doubt Anzac Day this year and next will be especially memorable.
Huntly’s World War I Memorial was unveiled by the Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, on May 27, 1927.
The memorial was designed and built by members of the local Returned Soldiers’ Association, who reportedly raised 80 per cent of the cost of the monument. It was originally sited on the east bank of the Waikato River near the town’s post office and town hall.
The memorial takes the conventional form of an obelisk mounted on a stepped base, inset with memorial panels and decorative wreaths and a draped scroll motif bearing the words ‘Tell it to the generation following’.
What is not conventional is the use of Huntly brick and the design and construction of the memorial by members of the local RSA, given that most of New Zealand’s World War I memorials were designed by architects and/or monumental masons.
The names of 57 local men who served in World War I are inscribed on the monument. It is interesting that their ranks are listed on the memorial plaques and the names are listed in order of seniority. This was contrary to the Government policy that all servicemen be given equal honours in death, regardless of the rank they achieved in life.
Further names were added to the memorial after World War II. Huntly’s World War II Memorial Hall was built in Wight Street near Lake Hakanoa in 1958 and at some time the World War I memorial was relocated to stand beside it. Monday was the last day for feedback on Waikato District Council’s draft District Plan. The Huntly World War I Memorial has long been scheduled on the district plan as a significant heritage item but the new plan also includes some ‘new’ heritage items that have been assessed as significant to the district.
There’s still the formal notification process to go but Waikato, like many councils around the country, has taken the approach of releasing a draft for informal comment. Perhaps to some folks that might appear to be dragging things out unnecessarily, but the intention is to keep the community up to speed with what’s been happening behind the scenes and collaborate on a document that will be the planning ‘bible’ for the district over the next 10-15 years. In view of the new understandings we have gained from the World War I centennial commemorations, it seems like a couple of months more to wait for Waikato’s notified District Plan is not such a long time really.