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Roll of honour at Rotorua and Whakarewarewa Māori war memorial

online resource
posted on 2024-06-05, 18:59 authored by Their Finest Hour Project Team

While visiting the North Island of New Zealand (Te Ika-a-Māui, Aotearoa) I saw the roll of honour for the Second World War displayed on the shore of Lake Rotorua. At the Rotorua war memorial, in the same garden, there is an avenue of olive trees with the inscription "Donated by the NZ veterans of the Battle of Crete to whom this tree was gifted by the people of Crete as a symbol of the love and friendship between the peoples of Crete and New Zealand 1972." In the arch that is the entrance to Te Puia, a visitor attraction located in the Whakarewarewa volcanic valley in Rotorua, a Māori war memorial is displayed. This memorial gateway commemorates soldiers with the inscriptions "Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū" (the motto of Māori who served in the wars including the 28th (Māori) Battalion of the Second World War) and "Kia Mau Mahara" ("Lest We Forget").

History

Item list and details

Photographs of the archway to Whakarewarewa; Photos of the roll of honour at Rotorua;

Person who shared the story/items

Alun Edwards

Type of submission

Shared online via the Their Finest Hour project website.

Record ID

109599