Pioneer gun turret and war memorial, corner Roose Rd and Riverbank Rd, Mercer. Situated on the banks of the Waikato River, the First World War memorial, which was unveiled on 28 April 1922, consists of the statue of a soldier in marching kit mounted on a turret taken from the gunboat Pioneer, which plied the river during the Waikato War. Before being incorporated in the memorial the turret had done duty as a police lock-up.
The Pioneer, a paddle-steamer, was the first naval vessel built for the New Zealand government. Along with its sister vessels it was a key element in the British invasion of Waikato in 1863/4. Armoured ships could reconnoitre and transport men past Māori defensive positions. Its two iron turrets each protected a 12-pounder Armstrong gun and provided loopholes for small-arms fire.
The other turret from the Pioneer stands on The Point at Ngāruawāhia. Read more about both the Pioneer memorials here.
There is a Mercer First World War roll of honour in the Tūākau War Memorial Hall. The three-part wooden tablet was constructed for the Mercer School committee and other citizens of Mercer. It is uncertain whether it originally hung in the school or in the old Mercer hall. About 2000, it was found in a tip, restored, and placed in the Tūākau hall for safekeeping.
Further information
- James Cowan, ‘Gunboats and Maori Cannoneers: The Romance of The Rail: A Descriptive and Historical Story of the North Island Main Trunk Railway’, in The New Zealand Railways Magazine, vol. 3, no. 2 (1 June 1928), p. 34
- James Cowan, ‘The River War Fleet’, in The New Zealand Wars: a history of the Maori campaigns and the pioneering period: Volume I: 1845–1864, R.E. Owen, Wellington, 1955, pp. 308–15
- Grant Howard, The Navy in New Zealand, Reed, Wellington, 1981, pp. 11–12
- Neville Ritchie, ‘The Waikato war of 1863–64: A guide to the main events and sites’, Te Awamutu and District Museum, 2001
- J. O’C. Ross, The White Ensign in New Zealand, Reed, Wellington, 1967, pp. 87–8
- T.D. Taylor, New Zealand’s naval story, Reed, Wellington, 1948, pp. 108–9
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