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Witch Hill War Memorial

The war memorial on Te Upoko o Kurī Witch Hill was initially built in memory of Frederick Anderson and others who served in the First World War.

Situated on Te Upoko o Kurī Witch Hill, at the top of Rāpaki Track, on the Port Hills, Christchurch, the memorial was a seat made of unfaced basalt which had been quarried nearby. The memorial seat was erected on behalf of Mr and Mrs A. Anderson in memory of their son, Frederick Anderson, who had died during the battle of Messines. The plans to build the memorial were approved by the Summit Road Scenic Reserves Board in October 1917, just four months after Frederick died.

The memorial includes two bronze plaques commemorating the lives of St Martins and Rāpaki soldiers who died in the First World War, while a third plaque features the poem The Dead by Rupert Brooke (part III of his collection 1914).

One plaque facing towards St. Martins is inscribed with the names of the Opawa and St. Martins soldiers.

On the hills he loved
This seat is erected by his parents
In Memory of

Frederick Andrew Anderson
Who fell at Messines 7th June 1917
And in memory of his friend

Anthony Frederick Wilding
Who fell near Laventie 9th May 1915

Also in memory of those other gallant lads whose homes were near the foot of this hill at St Martins

Noel Fletcher Burnett
Fell at Gallipoli 18 Dec 1915

Henry Allen Bowron
Fell at Maodhabar Syria 24 Dec 1915

Edward William Bachelor
Fell at Messines 7 June 1917

John Leonard Barker
Fell in France 28 march 1918

George Thomas Barker
Fell in France 5 April 1918

The second plaque facing towards Rāpaki has the following inscription:

He whakamaharatanga tenei mo tangata toa o te iwi Maori o Rapaki
i tuku atu nei i a ratou ki te mate mo te Kingi me te Iwi i te Whawhai Nui

Waitere Manihera
Fell at Gallipoli  6 Aug 1915

Tamateraki Tene
Died at Auckland 27 April 1916

The memorial was damaged in the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquakes but was restored.

References

On the Hills, Press, Volume LIII, Issue 16036, 19 October 1917, p.4.

Witch Hill, Press, Volume LX, Issue 18196, 6 October 1924, p.10.