Matakohe First World War memorial. Adjacent to the memorial is the top of a Second World War Bofors anti-aircraft gun.
On 3 January 1922 Prime Minister Gordon Coates, himself an ex-serviceman, unveiled the Matakohe Great War memorial. This was an obelisk built from Hukatere granite quarried on Coates and his brother's own property near Te Kowhai. The dedication reads:
THIS MONUMENT / WAS ERECTED BY / THE RESIDENTS / OF MATAKOHE RIDING / IN GRATEFUL MEMORY / OF THE MEN / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY / IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 - 1919.
The names of 20 local men are inscribed on the memorial, along with an acknowledgement to 'an unknown warrior'.
A German howitzer field gun,supplied by the Defence Department, was put on display nearby. It was removed in poor condition in 1957 (after sojourns in the Matakohe Museum and MOTAT, the remnants of this gun ended up at the Waiouru Army Museum). In July 1990 a Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun was installed on the gun platform instead.
See: 'Memorial unveiled: ceremony at Matakohe', Auckland Star, 4/1/1922, p. 7; 'Fallen soldiers: Matakohe memorial', Northland Advocate, 7/1/1922, p. 4; Paparoa-Matakohe, 1862-1962, Whangarei, 1962, pp. 6-8; 'History surrounding Matakohe monument', Northland Times, 26/9/1990; Peter Cooke and Ian Maxwell, Great Guns: the Artillery Heritage of New Zealand, Wellington, 2013, pp. 120, 164-5).
Top image: Liz Clark, 2008
Other images: Andrea Hemmins/Matakohe Kauri Museum, 2010
Text: Bruce Ringer, 2024