These memorial gates outside New Plymouth Boys' High School on Coronation Avenue were designed by the prominent New Plymouth architect, Thomas H Bates. They were unveiled by the Governor-General Lord Jellicoe on 21 February 1923.
In 2023 another four plaques were installed on the gates commemorating the 226 former pupils killed in WW II. The Valour Project was a joint effort between the school, old boys' association and the New Zealand Remembrance Army.
Bronze Lettering around the wall either side of the gate:
ERECTED BY THE OLD BOYS OF THE SCHOOL IN REMEMBRANCE
OF THEIR COMRADES WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
Bronze plaque - left of Gate:
Killed or Died of Wounds
Ambury R Eyre L G
Atkinson S A Grey J
Baily R H Grant E
Bendall G E Griffiths S J
Bollinger G W Guild W A
Bollinger H Hall V J B
Brown D B Harle D A
Burkhardt A P Hoby S
Collis D Kidd R D
Crone C Kelly T B
Dustow E A Kimbell E
N M Halcombe
Bronze plaque - right of Gate:
Killed or Died of Wounds
Kirton C Potts C H
Lepper H M Quilliam R P
Mason E F Qulliam C W
Mc Donald M A Rider F H
Moore W E Rowlands F J
Mulloy W Serpell S L
Newell R D Sole L P
Okey R L Stoddart J H
Okey S M Taylor G B S
Okey A Warren L A
Paul S White R W
Thompson B
One of the above servicemen - C. Kirton is most likely to be Chudleigh Inwood Kirton who was killed in the Bere Ferrers rail accident, 24 Sept 1917, when 10 Kiwi soldiers were killed by an oncoming express after alighting on the wrong side of their carriage. He is also recorded on the Uruti and Fitzroy memorials.
Harper Mervyn Lepper MC joined the British Army (Middlesex Regiment) and served in France - where he was awarded the Military Cross - Gallipoli and Mesopotamia. He was killed in action, 9 April 1916 at the Battle of Sannaiyat, Iraq. He is also recorded on the Lepperton memorial. In 2015, a memorial plaque, created by his schoolmates after his death, was presented back to the family.
Sydney Melville Okey and cousin, Royden Lydiard Okey are also on family memorials in Te Hēnui Cemetery.
Leslie Perry Sole, KIA at the 'Daisy Patch', Cape Helles, 8 May 1915 is on a family memorial with brother Reginald in Te Hēnui Cemetery
Frederick J Rowlands, (as Rowlands, E.) is also on the Mangorei Hall memorial.
Lewis Warren is also on the Mangorei Hall, Omata & Inglewood memorials.
Related items:
School Honours War Dead Part 1 (Taranaki Daily News 27 April 2023)
School Honours War Dead Part 2 (Taranaki Daily News 27 April 2023)
Please do not reproduce these images without permission from Puke Ariki.
Contact us for more information or you can order images online here.
The information on this website is provided for general research and reference only. While we try to keep content accurate and current, we make no guarantees about its completeness or correctness. It should not be considered a replacement for a LIM or a Property Report. Some content is supplied by third parties. Puke Ariki has not verified this content and users should check its accuracy before relying on it.The inclusion of a building on the website does not imply heritage status. See SCHED1 in the NPDC District Plan for a list of buildings that have rules about what can happen to or around them (administered by NPDC). See the New Zealand Heritage List for a list of buildings that are celebrated for their heritage significance but are not subject to rules (administered by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga). Should any corrections need to be made to the records or for more information please contact us.
