The Meremere War Memorial was made and erected by Jones Brothers of Hāwera and unveiled by the MP, Mr O. Hawken, on 2 May 1922.
Those from the school or district who served in the war are named on marble panels on the corner posts. Those who served in WWII are named on marble panels on the memorial's base.
According to the owner, the South Taranaki District Council surveyed off the memorial and he gifted the area to the council. The original school students' gate is still present to allow easy access to the memorial.
The memorial was restored in 2009 by the South Taranaki District Council. At the time the tops of the corner posts were replaced with spherical tops.
Inscription:
Front Face (Top):
Our Heroes
Bugler G Bissett
2nd Lieut M G Curry
Pvt J Close
Trpr M Murphy
Trpr R Murphy
Rflm P Murphy
Pvt R Monk
QSM S Poole
Pvt H Wallace
Rflm P Woodford
For those that have mourned them
There's this relief:
That Glory sits by
the side of Grief
Erected by relatives and friends
to the perpetuate the memory of our
heroes
1914-1918
Left Face (Obelisk):
We Will Remember Them
1939 - 1945
Flgt Serg L W Williams
" " A G Dunlop
" " W J Geary
Dvr G Parnell
Pvt R Lichtwark
Pvt R Spice
Pass not this stone
in sorrow but with pride
and strive to live
as nobly as they died.
Left Face (Concrete Step): WWII
Pvt K Sangster Pvt W Spice
" H Smaley " R Wallace
" J Gilligan Tpr R Spice
" C Nicholson " S Kerrison
" R Geary Gnr G Baker
NA R Williams " C Spice
Pvt R Findlay
Lower Step: WWII
School Roll
Pvt B Coile Pvt G Davidson
" K Looney " S Taylor
" N Andrews " D Thorburn
" I Andrews " A Warren
" J Parnell " M Sangster
Right Face (Concrete Step):WWII
Pvt Mary Gulliver Lieut L Piper
LAC G Ashley Fly/O J Davison
Sgt T Wallace WO W Dunlop
Gnr D Judd " N Foreman
Stkr H Davison AB W Gardner
Pvt B Foreman " P Murphy
Rear (Marble plaque on concrete step): WWII
District Roll
Pvt O Nairn
" L Kitney
" R Hill
" R Palmer
Sgt N Norrie
Meremere Memorial Posts
Left Front: WWI
School Roll School Roll
2nd Lieut J Murphy Pvt T W White
" " L Bassett MC " J Tolme
Sergt H Franklin " N Coad
Pvt C Monk " A Nickel
" E Olliver " A Prentice
" H Telfer " H Coad
" L Monk
Right Front: WWI
School Roll School Roll
Flg Mjr H D Williams MC * Pvt H Allen
Dr B McRae " S W Birkett
Nurse F McRae Tpr R Chestnut
Sergt W Dunlop " G Hutchison
" H McLean " A Williams
" W H Olsen " N Gundesen
Left Rear: WWI
District Roll School Roll
Pvt T P Culkeen Pvt B Johns
" S Jefferies " F Close
" J Lumsden " D Carmichael
" J Ross " A Catley
" E Sanson " B L Williams
" J Wells " J Wolfe
" P Gundeson
Right Rear: WWI
District Roll School Roll
SM H Roberts Pvt P Patchell
Sgt V Anderson M M " F Dunlop
Cpl P H Clee " F Kurth
Pvt J Railton " G Coles
" B Anderson " A Birchall
" A Baldwin " D McLachlan
.
* Captain Henry Daniel Williams MC, 13/759
Hawera & Normanby Star - 28 Jan 1918
"Captain H D Williams, who has been awarded the Military Cross, is a son of Mr W Williams, of Meremere, Taranaki. He left with the third reinforcements and served in the Gallipoli campaign, in which he was severely wounded. He was in a hospital in England for several months, and, on his discharge, being unable to ride or walk properly with ease, he joined a flying corps.[the Royal Flying Corps] He has been four times mentioned in dispatches - once from Gallipoli and there [three] times from France - and a short time ago he was awarded the Military Cross and promoted from lieutenant to flight-commander for bravery."
Related documents:
Permission granted for memorial (Hawera & Normanby Star 11 March 1920)
Meremere Article by Jacq Dwyer (Patea & Waverley Press, November 2014)
Brothers in Arms - The Murphys (Taranaki Daily News 25 April 2015)
Remembering a band of brothers (Wanganui Chronicle 19 August 2015)
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