Topic: Witch Hill War Memorial
Topic type:
War memorial on Witch Hill, Port Hills, Christchurch.
Situated on Witch Hill / Te Upoko o Kurī, at the top of Rapaki Track, on the Port Hills, Christchurch, the memorial was a seat made of unfaced basalt which had been quarried nearby. The memorial included two bronze plaques commemorating the lives of St Martins and Rapaki soldiers who had died in the First World War, while a third plaque featured the poem The Dead by Rupert Brooke (part III of his collection 1914).
The memorial seat had been erected by Mr and Mrs A. Anderson in memory of their son, Frederick, 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 Anderson died.
One plaque faced towards St. Martins, and was 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 Rapaki had 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.
References
- Witch Hill War Memorial. Christchurch City Council.
- On the Hills.,Press, Volume LIII, Issue 16036, 19 October 1917
- WITCH HILL.,Press, Volume LX, Issue 18196, 6 October 1924
- Taylor, W.A., Lore and history of the South Island Maori. Christchurch, N.Z. : Bascands, [1952]. The New Zealand Electronic Text Collection
