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Elmwood School War Memorial

Unveiled on 26 February 1921, the memorial was erected in memory of the 154 Elmwood boys who served in the First World War.

The foundations for the memorial were laid in January 1921. The site chosen was a section adjacent to the school building which had been purchased in 1920. The war memorial was unveiled by the Minister of Education on 26 February 1921.

The memorial, the work of Messrs. Tretheway and Berry, was in the form of an obelisk of bluestone, with tablets of Carrara marble, inset, on which is set out the names of former pupils who served in the war. On two sides there are small drinking fountains.

According to The Press article at the time on one side of the obelisk were the following names:

A.C.W. Bain; A.K. Baker; A. Berry; C. Berry; Stanley Beanland; G.P. Beadel;, F.B. Brown; C.F. Carey; F. Clarkson; E. Cobeldick; J. Deacon; Tom Devening; Wm. French; Harold Hair; Harry Hall; Wm. H. Jones; G.P. Lattimore; Allan McDonald; S. McGee; Harold Newcombe; Geo. Scarr; F. Schumacher; Clive Strachey; Robert Taylor; A.B. Tonks.

Below this on the base a panel read:

Erected to the memory of Elmwood boys who served the Empire in the great war, 1914-1918. Unveiled by the Hon. C.J. Parr, Minister of Education, February 26th, 1921. J. R. Sinclair, headmaster, Wm. Jones, chairman.

The other three sides of the obelisk had the following names:

Geo. Anning; D. Armstrong; E. Askew; J. W. Baker; J. E. Baker; L. W. Baker; Owen F. Baker; B. Banks; H. Baverstock; Sydney Beanland; J. Best; Noel Biggens; S. C. Bingham; Ern. Boag; C. Boulton; N. Bowman (D.C.M.); Ernest Belcher; Leslie Brain; Fred Boakes; Bert Boakes; Cyril Brice; H. Brooke-Taylor; F. Bromley; E. Brown; P. Brown; F. Burrell; Wm. Buckley; R. Calvert; J. Carter; L. Cheesman; F. Coates; Jas. Colthart; Chas. Creswell; D'Arcy Creswell; Douglas Creswell; H. Dickenson; E. Donald; Joe Donnelly; J. W. Durward; Harold Edgar; Eric England; A. V. Fielder; Bert. Foote; Leslie Foote; Reg. Ford; V. Foster; A. Francis; L. Freeman; J. Graham; Jas. Genet; S. Green; J. Grogan; W. Gunter; F. Gurnsey; A. Gurnsey; Leslie Hair; M. Harper; Wm. Harvey; E. Harvey; A. Harvey; Jack Hawkins; C. Henley; H. Hindle; N. Henley; C. Hercus; G. Hewitt; R. Hucks; J. Hutchinson; W. Hutchinson; Fred. A. Jones; P. Keig; Clarence Keys; Edward Keys; J. Lattimore; J. R. P. Lattimore; David Lamb; Hector Lamb; Jim Lamb; Robt. Lloyd; D. Laurenson; R. A. R. Lawry; Ron. McDonald; Don. McDonald; Ernest McGee; Reg McGee; D. McIntyre; Chas. McKay; Tom Madden; Wm. Madden; Carol Moor; W. Moor; Victor Mulligan; Norman Nelson; B. Norton; G. Norton; Harold Owers; E. Paintin; W. Pearce; S. Pepper; Arthur Ponder (M.C.); Eric Rastrick; J. Reid; Alex. Ritchie; Edward Royds; Geoff. Royds; Stan. Salter; L. Scott; Trist Searell; Percy Secorn; Ralph Simpson; Ray Smith; Roy Smith; Jack Somerville; W. Stockdall (M.M.); C. Tomlinson; Bert Tomlinson; Wm. Tomlinson; C. Tucker (D.C.M.); F. Tucker, Reg. Voice, H. C. Wallace, Wm. F. Warner, Stanley Wells, Stan. Wilmot, O. W. Williams, C. C. Willis, J. W. Willis, R. Wylie.

The memorial was restored by the Merivale Precinct Society in 1995 and again in 2007 after it was vandalised. The marble panels were replaced with an alphabetical listing of all the boys names, with some changes of names from the Press article of 28 February 1921, except for the marble panel at the base which is still in place.

The memorial was damaged in the February 2011 earthquake which caused it to break into 7 pieces. After fundraising by the school it was repaired in 2012.

References

Article, Star, Issue 16337, 28 January 1921, p.8.

Elmwood Old BoysPress, Volume LVII, Issue 17081, 28 February 1921, p.8.

Soldiers honoured, Star (Christchurch), Issue 16363, 28 February 1921, p.6.

War Memorial rededicated at Elmwood, The Press, 16 February 1995, p.5

Back to its former glory, Stuff, 21 July 2012.