War Memorial Auckland Harbour Board

This memorial (Beacon Memorial) commemorates the employees of the Auckland Harbour Board who gave their lives in the First World War and those who returned.

The memorial was erected on 17 December 1915 and is the only memorial known to have been created while New Zealand forces were still at Gallipoli. The monument symbolised a beacon of hope and a safe return home and was first lit as the troops were being evacuated from Gallipoli and served as a functioning light, guiding ferries into the harbour.
In the late 1960s/early 1970s the area was redeveloped and the obelisk removed and placed in storage. In 1999 the obelisk was rediscovered but the top iron work and orb were missing and in 2000 it was re-erected about 150 meters from its original site, the restoration work having been funded by an anonymous Jewish German refugee from the second World War. In 2022 a replacement and spire and orb were added to the obelisk

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: John Kabesh (1), Anthony (Sharky) Ward (2, 3, 4, 5)