On 12 February 1924 the Hon. C. J. Parr, Minister for Education, opened an extension to the Ngātea District High School. The new classrooms had been built by local people as a memorial to the district’s First World War servicemen. The memorial tablet (or ‘honours board’) unveiled on the day listed the names of 28 local men who had served, four of whom had died.
The memorial classrooms have long since been demolished. However, the memorial tablet is displayed in the assembly hall at Hauraki Plains College (Ngātea District High School was renamed Hauraki Plains College in 1966). The school’s Second World War roll of honour nearby lists the names of a further 73 former students (eight of whom died).
Sources: ‘Education in Ngatea: Additions to School’, NZ Herald, 14/2/1924, p. 8; C.M. Evans, Ngatea District High School Golden Jubilee, 1912-1962, Ngātea, 1962, pp. 18, 54-6; 90th Jubilee, 1912-2002: The Story of Our School, Ngātea, 2002.
Images and text: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries, 2014
Historic image: Meghan Hawkes (ed) (2014) From Gold Mine to Firing Line: 'The Thames' and the Great War 1914-1918, Coromandel Heritage Trust