Memorial to beacon fires, Mt Maunganui

This postcard shows the memorial erected on Mt Maunganui in September or October 1919. It commemorated the beacon fires lit on 16 prominent sites across the Bay of Plenty during the peace celebrations on 19 July 1919. At Mt Maunganui the beacon fire was placed on the summit of Mauao (273 m high). To build the beacon fire locals carried Australian hardwood and 70 tar barrels up to the summit. Rockets were fired at 7.30 p.m. and the pyre of wood and tar barrels was lit half an hour later.

The memorial was made of New Zealand marble and was carried to the site by the same group that carried the supplies for the beacon fires. The inscription reads:

On this spot on July 19th 1919 a beacon fire was lit to commemorate PEACE. Answering signals were received from Otanewainuku, Pawherangi, Omanawa(2) Kati Kati Heads, Whakamarama, Motiti Isd. Te Puna Point  Maketu, Omokoroa, Otamarakau, Matakana Isd. Pikowai  Athenree Paengaroa.

Many communities lit a single large bonfire, as on Mt Eden in Auckland. But others, like the Bay of Plenty and the city of Dunedin, lit several bonfires at once. The burning of effigies of the Kaiser was popular in the South Island: in Amberley his effigy was said to have been ‘blown to pieces’, while in Ellesmere it was ‘burnt to a cinder’.

Peace bonfires

New Zealand's bonfires may have been influenced by a British plan for a chain of beacons and bonfires across the empire. The idea appears to have originated with the Boy Scouts’ Association in February 1919, but soon after a Parliamentary Committee was established to coordinate bonfires for peace celebrations. The ‘Central Committee for Beacons and Bonfires’ called for the Scouts’ cooperation, so rather than leading the event they ended up assisting the government, alongside local committees and the Overseas Club and Patriotic League. The parties worked together smoothly and the bonfire plan was a great success. Between 11 p.m. and midnight on Saturday 19 July the British countryside was said to be ‘aflame’ with bonfires burning from John o’ Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in England.