On 14 May 1916 the Reverend Samuel Nixon unveiled a roll of honour in St James Presbyterian Church, Pukekohe. This listed the names of fifty young men from the congregation who had enlisted for service, four of whom had died. The parish history records that by the end of the war the death toll had risen to fourteen: G. Adams, G. Blake, J.A. Bowden, P.H. Comrie, J. Edgar, F. Halliday, F.W. Lucas, O. McLean, A. Madill, A.J. Robinson, G. Scott, A. Tawse, T.G. Woods and W.H. Woods.
The following men from the congregation gave their lives during the Second World War: R.J. Adams, R. Dix, W.B. Hunniford, R.J.H. Miller, L.W. Munro, N.E. Pollock, T McD. Pollock and A.G. Sim. The church’s War Memorial Thanksgiving Organ was dedicated on 26 September 1948. This displayed a brass plaque listing the names of the fallen from both wars (it is unknown what happened to the First World War roll of honour). The organ―which may have been rebuilt since―was given a prominent place in the new church building when this was opened in 1961.
Sources: ‘Roll of Honour Unveiled’, Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, 26/5/1916, p. 3; B.R. Hyland, Centennial History of the Presbyterian Church in Pukekohe, Pukekohe, 1968, pp. 24, 35-6.
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