St Andrew’s Anglican Church on the corner of Queen Street and Wesley Street, Pukekohe, incorporates several First and Second World War memorials and was itself built as a thanks offering for peace.
In September 1921 a substantial concrete First World War memorial arch and gateway was dedicated on the Wesley Street entrance to the original parish church. This was donated by Mr Robert Bilkey in remembrance of men of the district who had lost their lives, and bore the inscription: “In Memoriam, 1914 – 1919”. Some time after the war, fundraising also began for a memorial stained glass window for the church. A memorial board or roll of honour was also placed inside the church.
On 23 August 1931 Archbishop A.W. Averill laid the foundation stone of the new parish church. This was described on the foundation stone and in the time capsule buried beneath it as a “Peace Memorial Church”. The new church was completed less than two years later and dedicated on 25 July 1933.
Fundraising for the planned memorial window had not been completed by the time the Second World War broke out, but was resumed afterwards. The three-light Memorial East Window that now stands above the altar was finally dedicated on 24 February 1952. It bears the inscription: “In memory of the fallen from this parish, 1914-1918, 1939 – 1945.”
The First World War memorial board is no longer on display, but after the Second World War a Book of Remembrance was compiled listing the names of members of the parish who had been killed in both world wars. This is displayed in a glass-topped cabinet built by disabled servicemen that stands at the rear of the nave.
Sources: 'New Anglican Church Dedication: Service Last Evening', Franklin Times, 26/7/1933, p. 5; St Andrew's Church, Pukekohe: Dedication of the New Church [order of service], Pukekohe, 1933; Nona Morris, A Centennial History of the Anglican Church in Pukekohe, Pukekohe, [1976], pp. 52-3, 74-6.
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