Upper Clutha War Memorials
The known memorials in the Upper Clutha (which UCHS has identified as the general area covered by Cardrona, Albert Town, Luggate, Queensberry, Tarras, Hāwea, Makarora, Wānaka and Lakes Wānaka and Hāwea) are:
Wānaka War Memorial
Roll of Honour, Wānaka Presbyterian Church
Luggate Roll of Honour
Hāwea Roll of Honour
Hāwea District War Memorial
Tarras District War Memorial
Research on the Queensberry area elicited the fact that there had been a Boer War Memorial in the old Queensberry School, but that School closed in 1964. The whereabouts of the memorial are unknown (it was in a picture frame and covered by glass).
The adult population of the Upper Clutha was just over 900 in 1914 so a sizeable proportion served (putting aside that some were not living in the area in 1914).
In 2014, a group of members from the Wanaka Genealogy Group and the Upper Clutha History Society started research for the book ‘Courageous & Free’. On all the memorials in the Upper Clutha, there was a total of 33 individuals (forces personnel who were supposedly killed in action, died of wounds or sickness) named on the memorials in the Upper Clutha. Three of these names should not have been there as they had never been born here, lived here, or were still alive well after 1922. The end result was that 49 soldiers and one nurse from the Upper Clutha lost their lives due to WW1[1] There were 153 returned soldiers and 14 soldiers who enlisted who were declared medically unfit during training. The research exercise actually brought two families together and one family discovered an uncle they did not know ever existed.
[1] Later in 2022 it was discovered that two additional soldiers who had been born at Mt Barker but lived most of their lives elsewhere, also lost their lives in WW1. Their surname was Bovett.
Wanaka Genealogy Group and the Upper Clutha History Society discuss local war memorials and the book ‘Courageous & Free’, which can be purchased here.
Wānaka War Memorial or Cenotaph
When first built, the Wānaka War Memorial was called the “Wanaka Fallen Soldiers Memorial.” It was unveiled on 20 February 1922 by Mr. J. Horn MP.
Originally, it had 15 names of deceased soldiers on it. Other names were added later on, including from WW2 and one from the Boer War.
Following the end of WW1, communities across New Zealand decided to memorialize the names of the men and women who gave their lives during the War. Pembroke (now Wānaka) was no different. The Pembroke records are very sparse, but references have been found in newspapers of the time.
The Wānaka War Memorial is set on the hill overlooking the central retail area of Wānaka off Upton Street – you can’t miss it. It records the names of some of the men and one nurse who lost their lives in World War One and World War Two. We now know that not all the Wanaka area soldiers who died in WW1 have their names recorded on the Memorial (WW2 records are yet to be checked). The names were originally sourced from a Registration Book in the Pembroke Post Office and no apparent thought was given to the men who enlisted elsewhere e.g. Cromwell, Oamaru, Dunedin etc.
The Wanaka Patriotic Association was formed during WW1, to support the soldiers serving overseas. On 11 March 1919 a meeting of the Assn. was held in the Pembroke Hall presided over by Mr. F D Thomson, Chairman. A discussion took place about “a suitable district memorial to our soldiers.” Two proposals were made: (1) for a cairn on Mt Iron, (2) a Memorial Hall. The latter proposal was adopted for investigation.
Two months later, a further meeting about the proposed Memorial Hall was held. The lowest estimate for the cost of a hall was £1000 “…and while this seems a large sum of money, the raising of it should be easily within the possibilities of the district.”
Eventually a decision was made on 18 May 1921 “to erect a monument in concrete, with marble relief, and slabs bearing the roll of honor (sic).” A contract was let to Mr J Robertson “who intends making a start with the erection of it at an early date. It is to be erected on the hill behind the post office, and when finished should look very well.”
The Memorial was unveiled by Mr. James Horn, MP on Monday, 20 March 1922 with much fanfare. Fifteen names had been engraved on the Memorial. In between the unveiling and Anzac Day 1928, additional names were added, however it is unfortunate that mistakes occurred, and two names are incorrect. “T Brown” should be “J Brown”, and “W Perkins” should be “H E Perkins”.
In 1948, the local RSA decided to canvas the district for donations to wards the cost of altering the “…Soldiers Memorial at Wanaka.” Note the changed name it was originally known as. They also sought to “… improve the surroundings of the Memorial to provide a more capacious assembly area.”
Roll of Honour, Wānaka Presbyterian Church
This memorial hangs inside the Church. It is not one hundred percent accurate, as additional names of soldiers from outside the Upper Clutha have been added.
St Columba’s Anglican Church
Bronze plaques were honouring the Scaife brothers, Arthur and Stanley, were mounted in the Church after WW1.
Luggate Roll of Honour
The memorial board in Luggate was originally displayed in the Luggate Memorial Hall, and moved to the Luggate Memorial Centre on completion of its build in 2022. The Luggate Memorial Centre is the first passive community building in the southern hemisphere.
On the memorial, there are 18 names from WW1, 13 from WW2 and 1 from the Korean War.
Hāwea District Memorial
This is a brass plaque situated on the Hāwea Dam. The plaque has been updated to record the names of all Hāwea District soldiers and the nurse who lost their lives (15 in total). ANZAC Day services are held here.
There is an old Memorial Board that originally listed soldiers and a nurse (Catherine Fox) that was found in a shed, in Hāwea Flat (Catherine’s name had been cleaned off, apparently many decades ago!). In 2021, John Taylor of Lake Hāwea was investigating the possibility of having Catherine Fox’s name reinstated.
A female on a WW1 memorial is relatively unusual. Catherine Fox was born in Cardrona and also lived at Hāwea Flat. She enlisted to serve overseas and was with a group of NZ Army Nursing Service nurses on a troopship (the Marquette) heading for Thessaloniki (Greece) when it was torpedoed. A number (about 167) of the nurses, soldiers, firemen and sailors died as a result.
Tarras District War Memorial
The below memorial board is situated in the Tarras War Memorial Hall:
St Columba’s Anglican Church
Bronze plaques were honouring the Scaife brothers, Arthur and Stanley, were mounted in the Church after WW1.
Lowburn Church
There is a memorial window honouring the three Foster brothers who were killed in action. They had lived at Queensberry before WW1 and then their mother (a widow) moved back to Lowburn.
