Governor-General Lord Jellicoe unveiled this granite obelisk on the central island near the bottom of Bow Street on 29 April 1922. It was dedicated by the local vicar, C.B.W. Seton (who had served as a military chaplain during the war). It bore the names of 22 local men, 15 who had died in action, four who had died on active service, and three who had died as a result of war service.
This was the first visit by a Governor to the town since Sir George Grey had passed by more than fifty years before. Lord Jellicoe drove the official party of two (himself and Lady Jellicoe) over the winding gravel road to Raglan. When the visitors left town after the convivial luncheon that followed the ceremony, Lady Jellicoe was at the wheel.
An inscription with the names of 14 men who died in the Second World War was unveiled on 12 November 1950. A VJ Day commemorative plaque was added in 1995.
There is no memorial in Raglan honouring service in the South African War. However, in 1984 local historian R.T. Vernon recorded the names of the local veterans he could remember as follows: Charlie Bluck, Charlie Cox, Herb Goodwin, Gordon Kendall, Bob McCracken, Archie Mold, Billy Phillips, Jack Phillips, N.D. Robertson, Jack Swann and William Wallis.
Sources: ‘Raglan Memorial to Fallen Soldiers: First Sod Turned’, Waikato Times, 27/6/1921, p. 4; ‘Raglan en Fete’, NZ Herald, 1/5/1922, p. 6; ‘Where Governors are Rare’, Auckland Star, 1/5/1922, p. 4; R.T. Vernon, Raglan, Hamilton, 1984, pp. 36-9; Raglan and Districts RSA, 1932-2007, Raglan, 2007, pp. 90-1, 117, 121, 131, inner covers.
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