The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial, unveiled in 1929, is a special site to remember the contribution of the New Zealand Medical Corps during World War One. It is the only known monument in the country that is solely dedicated to commemorating the critical support of New Zealand’s military medics, and the only physical reminder of the important role that Awapuni Camp played in New Zealand’s provision of troops for the First World War’s international theatres of battle. It is symbolic of New Zealanders’ strong desire that the achievements and sacrifice of the fallen members of the New Zealand Medical Corps should never be forgotten, and its special association with their training camp makes it a unique place to fulfil this function. Palmerston North was laid out in 1864 in an area of significance to Rāngitane, who had inhabited the forest, swamps and lagoons around the Manawatū River since the sixteenth century. The Manawatu Racing Club developed the site adjacent to where Awapuni Lagoon used to be, at the western edge of the town, and held their first race day on the new course in 1903. Like many racecourses and recreation grounds around New Zealand, it was utilised from the outbreak of World War One in August 1914 to mobilise and train troops to send overseas. Awapuni Camp was the largest of New Zealand’s four initial mobilisation camps, and then from October 1915 became the specialised training camp for all of New Zealand’s military medical personnel for the duration of the war. The war had a devastating impact on New Zealand society, with nearly 100,000 New Zealanders serving overseas and around 18,000 killed and 41,000 wounded. In 1928 the Manawatu Racing Club announced they would build a memorial to the fallen medics of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force on the site of their former training camp, just to the north of the racecourse buildings. Designed by the club secretary Mr John Moore Johnston, the memorial is a steep pyramidal stone fountain in the centre of a cross-shaped pool. The symbolism inherent in its design (the cairn-like fountain, the pool shaped like the international symbol of first aid worn on the medics’ uniforms, and the ‘tears’ of the fountain) still carries emotional impact. This would have been enhanced by the red and white flower beds that originally surrounded the pool. Unveiled by the governor-general at a ceremony on 3 December 1929, the memorial no doubt had a presence at Anzac Days throughout the years. However, racecourse infrastructure eventually encroached on it and by the time of the Medical Corps centenary in 2008 its neglected state was enough to prompt a major restoration project. In 2014 the project was initiated and led by the 2nd Health Support Battalion of the New Zealand Defence Force, and supported by the Manawatu Racing Club and many other organisations and individuals. The memorial was rededicated on 20 October 2016, renewing the pledge to never forget.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Able to Visit
List Number
9684
Date Entered
4th April 2017
Date of Effect
5th May 2017
City/District Council
Palmerston North City
Region
Horizons (Manawatū-Whanganui) Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes part of the land described as Lot 2 DP 437961 (RT 540088), Wellington Land District, and the structure known as Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial thereon and a circular curtilage approximately 5 metres from the end walls of the cross-shaped pool. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).
Legal description
Lot 2 DP 437961 (RT 540088), Wellington Land District
Location Description
The memorial is located within the grounds of Awapuni Racecourse, to the north of the track and racecourse buildings. GPS information (NZTM, reading taken at the plaque at the memorial’s southern end): E1818549; N5526759, +/-3m
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Able to Visit
List Number
9684
Date Entered
4th April 2017
Date of Effect
5th May 2017
City/District Council
Palmerston North City
Region
Horizons (Manawatū-Whanganui) Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes part of the land described as Lot 2 DP 437961 (RT 540088), Wellington Land District, and the structure known as Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial thereon and a circular curtilage approximately 5 metres from the end walls of the cross-shaped pool. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).
Legal description
Lot 2 DP 437961 (RT 540088), Wellington Land District
Location Description
The memorial is located within the grounds of Awapuni Racecourse, to the north of the track and racecourse buildings. GPS information (NZTM, reading taken at the plaque at the memorial’s southern end): E1818549; N5526759, +/-3m
Cultural Significance
Social Significance or Value War memorials perform a number of important social functions, for example providing a focus for grief and an expression of society’s appreciation of those who served and died. The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial shares the social heritage values inherent in all of New Zealand’s war memorials, but is a particularly poignant place to commemorate the service of those who trained as medics on the site. It is also a meaningful place for Palmerston North as a reminder of the impact that the Awapuni Camp had on the community, who rallied to welcome, support, entertain and farewell each intake of recruits. The trainees in turn supported local businesses and formed friendships. The recent restoration project has brought new generations of the community and the New Zealand Defence Force together.
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value For nearly four years Awapuni Racecourse was the specialised training ground for the New Zealand Medical Corps who served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) in World War One. Before that it was the largest of the four initial mobilisation camps set up at the start of the war to ready the Main Body of the NZEF. Sending troops and support services to the international battlefields was New Zealand’s main contribution to the war effort. The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial therefore has historical value for its direct association with a significant event in New Zealand and international history; World War One had a devastating impact on society. The monument is also associated with the wave of memorialisation that happened in the post-war years as New Zealanders strived to process the far-reaching effects of the war.
Physical Significance
Aesthetic Significance or Value The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial is of aesthetic significance. The symbolism contained in its design is a potent expression of the sorrow and pride felt by New Zealanders after World War One, still easily readable by current generations. The monument is authentic, and the recent restoration works have restored the integrity of its original park-like setting, allowing peaceful contemplation and respect for the dead. The impact of the towering, steep rise of the fountain enables people to appreciate the monumentality of the sacrifice of the fallen.
Detail Of Assessed Criteria
(a) The extent to which the place reflects important or representative aspects of New Zealand history The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial is a key site to remember New Zealand’s participation in World War One, particularly the essential service of the medical support personnel. The war affected all New Zealanders and had a major impact on many aspects of New Zealand history, with around 100,000 people serving overseas. The memorial is of special significance as it is the only physical reminder of the important role that Awapuni Camp played in New Zealand’s provision of troops for the international theatres of battle. Its location at the place where all of New Zealand’s medical personnel trained is a direct connection not only to the events of the war but also to the beliefs and values of New Zealanders in the post-war years, and their need to deal with the effects of the war through memorialisation. (b) The association of the place with events, persons, or ideas of importance in New Zealand history The founding of the New Zealand Medical Corps (NZMC) in 1908 reflected the international recognition of the critical support that this branch of the armed services provides, not only in treating the wounded but also by keeping soldiers healthy and camps sanitary. Inspired by New Zealand’s experience in the South African War and the formation of Britain’s Royal Army Medical Corps in 1898, the official creation of the NZMC formalised and enabled expansion of the medical services that had been part of New Zealand’s military campaigns since European colonisation. The outbreak of war in 1914 meant that greater resources for training recruits were needed, and Awapuni Camp became the specialised training ground for all of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force’s medics for the duration of World War One. The location of the memorial, and its status as the only monument solely dedicated to commemorating the service of the New Zealand Medical Corps in World War One, gives it a special connection with these historically important ideas and events. (e) The community association with, or public esteem for the place The memorial was built by the Manawatu Racing Club to honour those for whom the training camp was one of the last sites in New Zealand where they spent significant time before deploying overseas. Its existence is testament to the personal and collective connections of the Palmerston North community to these men, who they gave much pastoral care to during their time at Awapuni Camp. Although public esteem for the memorial was lost for a time when the monument fell into disrepair, it has been rekindled. The 2014-2016 restoration project, led by the RNZAMC Corps Committee (2nd Health Support Battalion) of the New Zealand Army and supported by many organisations and individuals, demonstrates the esteem for the memorial nearly 90 years later, and signals a commitment to maintaining it as a place of honour into the future. (f) The potential of the place for public education The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial is publically accessible within the racecourse grounds, and is easily visitable by those attending races or using the area’s walking tracks. It offers a site for reflection on New Zealand’s participation in World War One and the contribution of those who offered medical support, and the racecourse’s time as Awapuni Camp. Interpretation signage increases this potential for public education. (g) The technical accomplishment, value, or design of the place The memorial’s dignified design achieves a powerful, respectful and meaningful expression of the complex concepts underlying war commemoration using simple, geometrical components. The monument remains unchanged from when first built and its eloquent symbolism (the cairn-like fountain, the first aid cross-shaped pool, and the ‘tears’ of the fountain) still delivers impressive emotional impact. (h) The symbolic or commemorative value of the place The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial has significant commemorative value as a site designed for the remembrance of New Zealand’s World War One dead. It is symbolic of inter-war New Zealanders’ strong desire that the achievements and sacrifice of the fallen members of the New Zealand Medical Corps should never be forgotten, and its special association with their training camp makes it a unique site to fulfil this function. The restoration works during the centenary of World War One have added an additional layer of commemorative value to the place. (j) The importance of identifying rare types of historic places The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial is thought to be the only monument in New Zealand solely dedicated to commemorating the service of the New Zealand Medical Corps. It is therefore a special place to remember the courage and sacrifice of the NZMC members who died in World War One, and as one of only a handful of memorials commemorating the service of medical staff in New Zealand it is an important site to honour all those, past and present, who provide healthcare and support in the circumstances of war. (k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural area The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial is located on perhaps the Manawatū district’s key World War One site, that of the former Awapuni training camp. It retains a link to the modern centre of New Zealand’s military medical services, Linton Military Camp, via its proximity across the Manawatū River to the south of the racecourse. It is also located within a cultural landscape of significance to Rangitāne, between the former settlements of Awapuni Pā and Maraetarata, and many archaeological remains have been recorded in the area. A karaka grove (S24/61) has been recorded adjacent to the memorial. Summary of Significance or Values The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial is a special site to remember the contribution of those who provided essential medical support during World War One as members of the New Zealand Medical Corps. It is the only known monument in the country that is solely dedicated to commemorating the service of New Zealand’s military medics, and the only physical reminder of the important role that Awapuni Camp played in New Zealand’s provision of troops for the international theatres of battle. It is symbolic of inter-war New Zealanders’ strong desire that the achievements and sacrifice of the fallen members of the New Zealand Medical Corps should never be forgotten, and its special association with their training camp makes it a unique place to fulfil this function.
Construction Professional
Biography
John Moore Johnston was a leading and widely respected Palmerston North citizen who contributed much to the community. Born in Ireland in 1858, he arrived in New Zealand in 1878 and his career with the Bank of New Zealand took him all around the country. In the late 1890s he settled in Palmerston North when he became the manager of the local branch of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Coy. Ltd. He served as president, treasurer or secretary of many community organisations in the Manawatu as well as continuing his nation-wide work as a Board member of the Bank of New Zealand and the Land Commission. It is for his forty-year association with the Awapuni Racecourse that he is well remembered, as his ‘untiring work’ contributed much to its design and development. John Moore Johnston was responsible for the design of the memorial to the New Zealand Medical Corps medics who served and fell in World War One, constructed at the Awapuni Racecourse which had been their primary training ground. Johnston conceived a simple yet powerful memorial in the shape of a cairn-like fountain ‘like the weeping of Mother Earth who gave these men birth and to whom they have returned’, which flows into a pool shaped like the Red Cross symbol. Although construction of the memorial was completed by 1928, Johnston did not live to see it unveiled as he passed away on 28 October 1929. Source: List Entry Report for Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial, List No. 9684, 17 February 2017
Name
Johnston, John Moore (1858-1929)
Type
Architect
Construction Details
Description
Original construction largely completed by December 1928
Finish Year
1928
Start Year
1928
Type
Original Construction
Description
Pipework and a pump shed added
Period
Unknown
Type
Additional building added to site
Description
Restoration works including conservation of the cairn and pool, removal of pump shed and trenching the reservoir plumbing, installation of seating, lighting, interpretation signage, and a flag station and curved memorial wall at the north of the pool.
Finish Year
2016
Start Year
2014
Type
Restoration
Construction Materials
Marble, concrete, copper piping
Early history Awapuni is an area of significance to iwi Māori in Palmerston North. The Rangitāne people, descendants of Whātonga who was the grandfather of the eponymous ancestor Rangitāne, travelled south from Heretaunga and arrived in the Manawatū region in the sixteenth century. At the time the local inhabitants were said to have been Ngāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tara, Ngāti Houhia and Ngāti Hotu, but Rangitāne consolidated their position after some battles, and inter-tribal marriages took place with the local occupants. The bush, swamps, lagoons, and streams around the Manawatū River offered abundant food and resources. The site of Palmerston North once featured five lagoons (now drained), including one at Awapuni created by a cut-off ox-bow bend of the Manawatū River (Awapuni translates as ‘blocked-up river’). This lagoon was around the western edge of where Awapuni Racecourse is today. Incursions by northern tribes in the 1820s saw Ngāti Raukawa gain influence in the Manawatū, and conflicts with Ngāti Toa resulted in Rangitāne constructing fortified pā along the river. One settlement, Maraetarata, was just south of Awapuni Racecourse at the junction of the Awapuni Lagoon and the Manawatū River. Maraetarata was a Ngāti Hineaute hapū settlement, under the chief Peeti Te Aweawe, a son of Te Aweawe. European settlement began with the Crown’s purchase of the Te Ahuaturanga Block in 1864 and a township, initially called just ‘Palmerston’, was laid out around the clearing of Papaioea. Between 1866 and 1873 members of Rangitāne purchased rural sections 361 and 363, adjacent to the north of the present racecourse, and established a village usually referred to as Awapuni Pā, which became a principal settlement of Rangitāne o Manawatū until the 1920s. A meeting house named ‘Kikiwhenua’ was built there in 1883. The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial is adjacent to a grove containing karaka trees, to the north of the racecourse buildings; this has been recorded in the New Zealand Archaeological Association Site Recording Scheme as S24/61. Karaka berries were an important traditional food, and the trees were often grown near Māori settlements. It has been concluded that most of the karaka groves in the Manawatū are associated with sites of Māori occupation, and this grove’s proximity to two known settlements, Awapuni Pā and Maraetarata, supports this interpretation. Other recorded archaeological sites in the vicinity attest to the area’s long history of Māori occupation. In 1867 prominent politician Dr Isaac Featherston acquired the land now occupied by the Awapuni racecourse and buildings, rural sections 364–366, by Crown Grant. It was next owned by the Presbyterian Church and leased to solicitor/harness racer Mr A.S. Baker from 1886, beginning its long association with horse racing. In 1900 the Trustees of the Manawatu Racing Club purchased the land from Mr Baker, and the club’s first raceday was held at the new racecourse on Boxing Day, 1903. World War One Like many racecourses and recreation grounds around the country, the racecourse at Awapuni was used during World War One in the mobilisation and training of New Zealand’s military troops, offered free of charge by the Manawatu Racing Club. The supply of troops to the international theatres of conflict was New Zealand’s main contribution to the war effort, and eventually nearly 100,000 people served overseas in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF). In preparation for sending the first wave of 8,500 servicemen (the Main Body of the NZEF), the camp at Awapuni Racecourse was set up immediately after the outbreak of war in August 1914 as the training centre for the Wellington district. Awapuni was the largest of the country’s four initial mobilisation camps, training more than half of the Main Body including infantry, mounted riflemen, artillery, engineers, signallers, Army Service Corps and Mounted Field Ambulance men. National training camps were then established at Trentham and Featherston, and so from 6 October 1915 Awapuni Camp became the specialised training centre for the New Zealand Medical Corps (NZMC). Doctors had served with colonial regiments and the New Zealand Militia since 1840, but it wasn’t until the South African War (1899-1902) that the push to form a dedicated military corps of medics, based on Britain’s newly-created Royal Army Medical Corps, gained momentum. The NZMC was officially formed on 7 May 1908, however at the outbreak of war in 1914 its numbers were limited so the influx of new recruits required a revamp of the system. Medical training for the Main Body and early reinforcements had been somewhat haphazard, and the new training programme at Awapuni Camp from October 1915 aimed to improve standards and meet increasing demand for medical personnel at the front. Racing Club buildings were modified and a model trench system was created beside the racecourse; there trainees practised stretcher-bearing and treating the wounded in the field. Their four-month programme also included a month of hospital experience at the national training camps, and education on the principles of hygiene and good sanitation to keep the camps healthy. All army medical personnel, from officers to stretcher-bearers to orderlies and medical crew for hospital ships, trained at Awapuni Camp from October 1915 until it was closed in February 1919. The Palmerston North community strongly supported the medics’ camp throughout the war, building an Anzac Club and providing civic receptions, entertainments and pastoral care for each intake of recruits. The war had a devastating impact on New Zealand, as 18,000 of the men who went overseas were killed, and 41,000 wounded. Many more came home traumatised. It is estimated that at least ten percent of the New Zealand population suffered an intimate loss. A memorial is planned Palmerston North erected a civic monument to the district’s war dead in the Square in February 1926, but in recognition of Awapuni’s special connection to the events of the war, on 20 August 1928 the president of the Manawatu Racing Club, Mr C. Louisson, announced the club’s intention to erect a memorial to the officers and men of the Medical Corps who gave their lives for the Empire. It had already been designed, and indeed was nearing completion by mid-December that year when a sneak preview received excited coverage in the press. The design, a pyramidal marble fountain within a cross-shaped pool evoking the international symbol for first aid, was the work of Mr J.M. Johnston, the late secretary of the Club. It was considered to be: ‘…a fitting memorial to men who saw these flowering gardens and verdant lawns thirteen years ago and who died in carrying the message of mercy and succour into the torn battlefields of the war zone…The gentle laving of the water over the marble blocks in itself expresses the whole purpose and spirit of the memorial—the gentle weeping of Mother Earth who gave these men birth and to whom they have returned.’ The memorial was however kept covered for a year, until Governor-General Sir Charles Fergusson was available to perform the unveiling on 3 December 1929. Veterans who trained at Awapuni were invited and transport was arranged from the regions. The ceremony, attended by many military and civilian dignitaries, included a parade from returned members of the NZMC accompanied by a guard of honour, wreath-laying, hymns and speeches honouring the bravery of the corps. His Excellency the Governor-General concluded, ‘Only by love, and sympathy, and sacrifice for our fellow-men can we repay the debt we owe these men whose memory we are commemorating.’ World War One memorials in New Zealand While some memorials to the fallen were erected during the Great War, historian Jock Phillips notes that as Anzac Day assumed more permanence in the 1920s the community’s need for a symbolic focus for the annual remembrance became more pressing, and most of New Zealand’s World War One memorials were unveiled in that decade. War memorials express the beliefs and values of New Zealanders at the time. As well as commemorating the courage and self-sacrifice of those who served, they provide a focus for grief, especially where there is no gravesite to visit; they also convey the community’s sense of pride in their loved ones’ achievements and how they contributed to New Zealand’s growing sense of national identity. There are over 500 public World War One memorials in New Zealand, plus many more honours boards and plaques in halls, schools and churches. The New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero recognises their heritage significance with entries for over 100 World War One memorials, including monuments, gates and arches, specifically dedicated buildings, and memorials within buildings (such as commemorative windows in churches or plaques). While the service of the New Zealand Medical Corps (which became the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps in 1947) is honoured in at least three of the country’s general memorials (the National War Memorial, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and the Manukau RSA Memorial Gardens all have plaques for this branch of the services, for example), and individuals who served in the corps are included in the memorials in their home districts, memorials solely dedicated to medics are less common. A major memorial honouring the service of Red Cross nurses is the Nurses Memorial Chapel at Christchurch Hospital (1927). Nurses are also remembered by a pillar at Paraparaumu (1924), a plaque at the Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (post-1931), recent plaques in Oamaru (2009), New Plymouth and Waimate (2015), and a memorial hall in the Barrett Street Nurses’ Home in New Plymouth (1919), although that is also a memorial to the district’s fallen soldiers. The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial is New Zealand’s only known monument solely dedicated to commemorating the service and sacrifice of the New Zealand Medical Corps, in any war. It sits alongside international examples in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. Its location on the site of the NZMC’s training grounds is a particularly direct historical link to its commemorative purpose. Restoration of the Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial After the fanfare of the unveiling in 1929, the memorial likely had a presence during Anzac Day races at Awapuni but the passage of time saw it gradually lose its prominence in the hearts and minds of the population, as well as on its physical site. Over the years it became overshadowed by vegetation and encroached on by roading and rather utilitarian infrastructure, as the cross-shaped pool also serves as the racecourse’s water reservoir. The 2008 centenary of the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps refocused attention on the monument, and the centenary of World War One became the motivation for a restoration project ‘to renew our pledge to never forget’. This was led by the RNZAMC Corps Committee through the 2nd Health Support Battalion, with the full support of the Manawatu Racing Club/RACE Inc., Palmerston North City Council, Te Manawa Museum, WW1 Lotteries Grants Board, and Veterans Affairs New Zealand, to name a few of the many contributors. From 2014-2016, the Awapuni RNZAMC Memorial Centenary Project Team cleared vegetation, conserved the cairn and pool, moved reservoir plumbing underground, and installed seating, lighting, interpretation signage, and a flag station. The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial was rededicated in a ceremony on 20 October 2016. Responsibility for its ongoing maintenance is now shared by the Manawatu Racing Club, the RNZAMC and Palmerston North City Council.
Current Description Context and setting The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial is located in the grounds of Awapuni Racecourse, at the western edge of Palmerston North. The memorial sits to the north of the race track and racecourse buildings, amidst a parklike area of established trees and pathways. A small timber shed, roofed with Marseille tiles and known as the Police Shed, sits amongst the trees about 20 metres to the southwest. Formerly tucked away behind the totalisator building, with the removal of that building in 2015 the memorial monument is now prominently visible from the main entrance gates and racecourse forecourt. It is now the only remaining indicator of the site’s former use as a military training camp, however it retains a proximal relationship to the primary training ground for today’s New Zealand Army medical staff, who are based at Linton Military Camp across the Manawatū River to the south of the racecourse. The memorial The memorial consists of a pyramidal stone cairn-like fountain within a water feature shaped like a cross. Surrounding it is a circular area newly-paved with crushed lime and containing six gabion seats filled with riverstones, allowing space for reflection and commemoration. At the northern edge of the monument is a curved concrete memorial wall and flag station, installed during the 2014-2016 restoration works. Low, squared concrete walls contain the pool, forming the arms of a Greek cross, each equal in length. This equilateral square cross has been a universally recognizable symbol of first aid and army medical services since the first Geneva Convention in 1864 and featured on the World War One medics’ uniforms. The symbolic association would have been strengthened in the memorial’s early days when it had beds of red and white flowers in the corners formed by each intersecting arm of the cross. Today the outer walls of the pool are surrounded by a dry moat filled with riverstones and reddish grasses. An outer layer of box hedging provides a further safety feature. A rectangular marble plaque on a concrete plinth sits on top of the end wall of the southern arm of the cross. The plaque is engraved with the inscription: ‘In Arduis Fidelis In proud memory of the officers and Men of the New Zealand Medical Corps who were trained on these grounds 1914-1918 and who sacrificed their lives for the Empire.’ The pyramid-shaped cairn, approximately one metre square at the base and five metres high, is constructed of rough-hewn and squared marble blocks of varying sizes, laid in thirteen decreasing tiers and rising steeply to a square top layer capped by copper flashing. Toolmarks, including drill holes from the quarrying process, are visible on the surface of the stone blocks. The cairn sits on four concrete pillars within the pool, and is offset diagonally to the arms of the cross. Fed by an artesian bore, water is piped to the top so that it cascades down into the surrounding pool. A small marble plaque is attached about half-way up the northwestern face of the cairn; the inset lead lettering repeats the wording of the larger plaque on the southern wall of the pool.
Completion Date
2nd February 2017
Report Written By
Blyss Wagstaff
Information Sources
Phillips, 2016
Phillips, Jock, To the Memory: New Zealand War Memorials, Potton & Burton, New Zealand, 2016
Bargas and Shoebridge, 2015
Bargas, Imelda and Tim Shoebridge, New Zealand’s First World War Heritage, Exisle Publishing Ltd, Auckland, 2015
Shoebridge, 2013
Shoebridge, Tim, ‘Manawatū’s First World War Camps, 1914-1919’, Manawatu Journal of History, Issue 9, 2013, pp.11-21
Treanor, 2008
Treanor, Ken, The staff, the serpent and the sword: 100 years of the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps, WilsonScott Publishers, Christchurch, 2008
Report Written By
A fully referenced New Zealand Heritage List report is available on request from the Central Region Office of Heritage New Zealand. This place is included in the Ministry for Culture and Heritage Memorials Register, http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/awapuni-war-memorial Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions.
Current Usages
Uses: Civic Facilities
Specific Usage: Fountain
Uses: Civic Facilities
Specific Usage: Lake/Pond
Uses: Commemoration
Specific Usage: Memorial - World War One
Uses: Utilities
Specific Usage: Reservoir/ Dam
Former Usages
General Usage:: Defence
Specific Usage: Military Camp
General Usage:: Defence
Specific Usage: Military Parade/ Training Ground
Themes
War Memorial