The Minister of Internal Affairs, H.T. Anderton, formally opened the Ngāruawāhia War Memorial Hall in Galileo Street on 22 March 1958. The memorial plaque in the hall’s lobby incorporated an illuminated glass panel with a map of the world showing the Second World War theatres of war. The roll of honour alongside it listed the names of 24 local men who died on active service during the war.
Lists of the town’s Second World War fallen are also found on the Ngāruawāhia First World War memorial and at the Ngāruawāhia RSA Memorial Club. There are slight discrepancies amongst the three lists, and altogether a total of 25 names are recorded: I.N. Brown [or S. Brown], E.J. Buckeridge, E.J. Crosby, C.F. Day, O.J. Donovan, R.J. Fuller, J.G. Hennessy, H.M. Hill, C.H.E. Jay, J. Keepa, E.O.W. McConnell, C. McFarlane, R.O. McFarlane, D. H. Miller, F.D. Nicholson, T.M. Paterson, R. Prendergast, T. Redpath, E. Rimoldi, D.J. Sampson, E.A. Waters, J. Watters, K.C. Wells and T.Y. Wyllie.
Sources: ‘Mr Anderton Opens New Ngaruawahia Memorial Hall’, Waikato Times, 22/3/1958, p. 4; ‘Memorial Hall Opened: Ngaruawahia Centre’, NZ Herald, 24/3/1958; A.M. Latta, Meeting of the Waters: The Story of Ngaruawahia, 2nd ed., Ngaruawhia, 1980, pp. 125-7.
Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries, 2014