The small southern Taranaki community of Ōtākeho did not build a First World War memorial: its fallen soldiers were included in the Waimate district memorial at Manaia instead. After the Second World War a war memorial scholarship was instituted for pupils of the local school. The scholarship was replaced in 1954 by the annual presentation of a 'memorial book' (generally a dictionary) to all Form II pupils from the school. However, some time afterwards, war memorial plaques listing the five local men who had died in each of the First and Second World Wars were also added to the Ōtākeho School Coronation Gates, originally built to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. These became known as the Memorial Gates.
Ōtākeho School closed down in 2003. In April 2018 the war memorial plaques were transferred from the former school gates to a new memorial constructed outside the local hall.
See: 'Otakeho', Hawera & Normanby Star, 19/5/1919, p. 4; Otakeaho School, 1884-1964: Jubilee celebrations, Otakeho, 1965, pp. 31, 35; Otakeho District and School Centennial Celebrations: 100 Years of Progress, Otakeho, 1984, pp. 23, 66; 'New memorial a new beginning for Otakeho', Opunake & Coastal News, 3/4/2018, p. 13.
Community contributions