Patea & Districts War Memorial (1922/1955)

This memorial honours 64 men from Pātea, Whenuakura, Opaku, Kakaramea, Alton, Hurleyville and Manutahi who died during the First World War.

The Hawera Star noted on 26 July 1921 that "The Patea District War Memorial Committee are erecting a memorial gateway to the Patea Domain at the cost of £400, the work being in the hands of Messrs Jones Bros., of Hawera. This is to be a district memorial to the men of Alton, Hurleyville, Manutahi, Kakaramea and Whenuakura who were killed in action or died on service." Work began on 12 October that year.

It was hoped that the memorial would be erected in time for unveiling by Governor-General Lord Jellicoe when he passed through Pātea from Whanganui to New Plymouth on 27 October 1921, but was eventually unveiled by Mrs C.A. Larcombe and other members of the Ladies’ Patriotic League on Anzac Day in 1922.

The WWI plaques were removed from their original position on the gate pillars of the Domain/sports ground in Egmont Street in the 1950s and reinstalled with WWII additions on the memorial feature wall between the Library and Town Hall (demolished in 1981). The new memorial was unveiled on Anzac Day in 1955 and consists of a low concrete wall set on a podium surmounted by a flagstaff. 

Central granite plaque:

Lest We Forget / Erected to the Memory of / the Honoured Dead of Three Wars / 1899-1902: 1914-1918: 1939-1945

White marble plaque transferred from the base of the South African War Memorial light standard:

British South Africa / 9th Nov 1900

Plaque one:

In Memory / of the Men of / Whenuakura Opaku / Who fell in the / Great War / 1914-1918

Gnr C Freakins
Rfmn H H Southcombe
Pvt  F Hurley
[Pvt] J Mulcahy

[Pvt] A Pym
[Pvt] N A Pollard
[Pvt] G Widdowson

Kakaramea

[Pvt] A Giles
[Pvt] L Speight
[Pvt] A Wilson

Plaque two:

In Memory / Of the men of / Patea / Who fell in the / Great War / 1914-1918

Lieut G A Robbie

Sgt A Christensen
[Sgt] H Christensen
[Sgt] A Eden
Cpl F Rule
L Cpl C Dunn

[L Cpl] H L C Peterson
Dvr J Scott
Tpr B Deane
[Tpr] K Matheson
Rflmn D G Williams
Pvt F W Willis
[Pvt] J Thacker

[Pvt] O Roberts
[Pvt] D Ryan
[Pvt] R H McQueen

[Pvt] G Moyes
[Pvt] S I Mercer
[Pvt] L E Champion
[Pvt] J Carradus
[Pvt] S Floyd
[Pvt] W Butler

Second World War panels:

1939-1945

Barnett P E

Bodker W H

Boyce T W

Callander D C

Close P J

Davidson G L

Drury J M

Gillon A A

Hamblyn E C

Handley E T

1939 - 1945

Hardy R

Hamlin J G

Honeyfield E R

Hurley T E

Jeffery L

Jones R

Joblin G R

Martin S G

Milham F K

Minton F J

Moreland R S

1939 -1945

Pokau G

Siddal W J

Skipper W

Stevens R G

Sutherland E H

Taylor A

Turner W

Usher B

Wells G

Wilson E H

Wilson J S

Wereta W

Plaque three:

In Memory / Of the Men of / Kakaramea Alton / Hurleyville / Who fell in the / Great War / 1914-1918

Cpl M C Mitchell
Gnr S A W Myles
Tpr A Gould
[Tpr] F Winks
Rflmn T Marshall
Pvt H Derriman

[Pvt] K Grant
[Pvt] M Hodge
[Pvt] J Penzer
[Pvt] R R Scown
[Pvt] C Taylor
[Pvt] W White
[Pvt] G W Ward
[Pvt] W O McDiarmid
[Pvt] F H Rogers
[Pvt] W Tamarapa
[Pvt] J Matthews

[Pvt] R Allen
[Pvt] H L Anderson
[Pvt] P D Vincent

Plaque four:

In Memory / Of the Men of / Manutahi / Who fell in the / Great War / 1914-1918

Gnr T Cameron
Dvr G Brewer
Rflmn F Furnival
Pvt N Wheeler
[Pvt] G Richards
[Pvt] H Rhoades

[Pvt] E Smith

[Pvt] T Harvie
[Pvt] W Simpson
[Pvt] J Ritchie
[Pvt] E Lacey
[Pvt] T Oldridge

[Pvt] H R Hoades [possibly H Rhoades as there no Hoades appears in the casualty lists]