Te Rawhiti war memorial is located inside the grounds of the Te Rawhiti Marae on Rawhiti Road east of Russell.
In 1946 a granite obelisk was erected at Te Rawhiti marae to commemorate men from the area who had died during both world wars. A War Memorial Dining Hall was later also built at the marae. The original dining hall, or whare kai, has long since been replaced, but the obelisk remains, although it has twice been relocated within the atea.
It is inscribed with the names of two local men who gave their lives during the First World War (H.T. Waima Tawhai and J. Hakaraia), and of eight local men who gave their lives during the Second World War (H.W. Matene, D. Maunsell, W. Hakaraia, W.T.K. Hau, M. Parkes, J. Kareko, B. Hakaraia and P. Howe).
The Te Rawhiti Roll of Honour, displayed inside the present dining hall, lists the names of 14 local ex-pupils of Te Rawhiti Native School and residents of the settlement who served overseas during the two world wars. The First World War list has 14 names, including two headmasters of the local school; the Second World War list has 28 names. One man, Cecil James Blomfield MC, served in both wars. R.L. Shepherd in his history of Te Rawhiti, published in 1966, noted that men from Te Rawhiti had also served in J Force (Japan), Korea, Malaya and Vietnam.
For many years, members of the Russell RSA held its Anzac Day dawn service at Te Rawhiti marae. In recent years, dawn parades have been rotated between Russell, Te Rawhiti and Ngaiotonga.
Sources: ‘Anzac Service at Te Rawhiti’ [photograph], Auckland Weekly News, 9 May 1956, p. 24; R.L. Shepherd, Te Rawhiti: A Short History, Te Rawhiti, 1966, [pp. 19, 21, 29]; Kay Boese, Tides of History: Bay of Islands County, Kawakawa, 1977, p. 233; Johnnie Kempthorne, ‘The Russell RSA’, Russell Review, 1998-1999, pp. 45-59; [cont.], Russell Review, 1999-2000, pp. 69-77; Te Rawhiti Marae website.
Images: Ross Beddows 2004, John Halpin 2013, Anya Hook (roll of honour) 2015; information: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries, 2015.
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