William George Malone Statue (2011)

Statue of William George Malone, Commander of the Wellington Battalion at Gallipoli in 1915. Malone and many men of the battalion were killed on Chunuk Bair following the attack on 8 August 1915.

Malone (1859 -1915) was a prominent Stratford lawyer and was deeply involved in local politics as well as the Taranaki Regiment. He had arrived in New Zealand in 1880 and in Taranaki in 1881. He served with the Armed Constabulary at Ōpunake for a year (including the attack on Parihaka) before he went farming at Stratford. He soon became Chairman of the Ngaere Roads Board, a member of the Hāwera County Council, clerk of the Stratford County and a member of the Taranaki Hospital Board.

He qualified as a solicitor in 1894 and founded the firm of Malone, McVeagh & Anderson in Stratford with branches in New Plymouth and Inglewood.

Malone was credited with creating the distinctive “lemon-squeezer” hat adopted by the New Zealand Army. He said it was based on the rain-shedding qualities of the mountain in his Stratford backyard.

At the entrance to near-by King Edward Park are the Malone Memorial Gates – the largest public memorial to an individual military person in New Zealand.

The statue was financed by  the TSB Community Trust along with private contributions. It was commissioned by the Malone Quest - a group of Taranaki locals led by ex-Royal Naval officer, Peter Peckham (1925 - 2017). The New Zealand Army Association and Stratford District Council provided support and maintenance for the project.

The statue was created by New Plymouth's Fridtjof Hanson and cast by Ross Wilson of Marton. It was unveiled on 20 November 2011 by Malone's great grand-daughter, Dr Louise Malone. The 5th Wellington West Coast, Taranaki Regiment paraded their colours to celebrate the unveiling.

The statue mysteriously disappeared not long after installation after rumours started circulating that Malone may have been somewhat taller than the statue indicated. It was reinstalled in June 2012 with 20cm having been added to the statue's height. Even Fridtjof Hanson admitted he'd made a mistake, "He looked like a bloody mushroom." However, Fridjtof and others were ecstatic at the result, "Now I think he looks fantastic" said Hanson.

The 1942 25-pounder field gun adjacent was moved from the former Stratford RSA building in 2017.