Collingwood war memorials

Collingwood war memorials, then and now.

In the 1990s the two smaller memorials were moved to flank the main one, so they are now together in one group.

They consist of:

• Collingwood War Memorial (the large centre one in the picture above)
• Collingwood War Memorial Cross (left of picture) - This is a memorial to Captain Harry Bolton Riley, killed in action 1916. The memorial used to be located 100 metres further north, on the corner of Gibbs Road and Elizabeth Street, i.e. where it is shown on the photo elsewhere on the Register.
• The third memorial relates to the South African (Boer) War and is on the right-hand side of the picture. It is to Private Ralph Vincent James, killed 1900. It also was moved from the opposite corner of the intersection.

Four brothers, the children of Frederick John and Fanny Jane Harvey of Collingwood, all served in the same unit during the First World War. Three were killed during the war Charles Harvey (23/1661), Percy Harvey (7/209) and Frederick Harvey (6/3342). The other brother William Harvey (6/254), returned to New Zealand and died of wounds within a year. Read more about these brothers on Auckland Museum's Cenotaph database.

• See also an entry about this memorial on Te Papa's blog