The Stratford cross of sacrifice, erected after the Second World War, stands in a prominent position in Miranda Street, Stratford. It is just one of a cluster of memorials: close by are both the Stratford War Memorial Centre and a memorial bell tower.
The people of Stratford launched an appeal for funds to build a war memorial hall in May 1951. Tenders were accepted in July 1953. The building was opened in 1955.
A cross of sacrifice was later erected outside the hall by the Stratford and District Returned Services Association. This was dedicated on 10 November 1957.
The Stratford Post Office clock tower and belfry in Broadway had originally been erected as a memorial to the soldiers of Stratford who fell in the South African War and First World War. It was demolished in 1963. In 1981 the bells were reinstalled in a new tower in Miranda Street.
The rebuilt War Memorial Centre was opened on 9 May 1995.
Sources: See: Stratford District Centenary, 1878-1978, pp. 69-70; David Walter, Stratford: Shakespearean Town Under a Mountain, Stratford, 2003, p. 162; Stratford Heritage Walkway
Main image: Graham Hucker; other images and text: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries, 2015