On 29 April 1957 Governor-General Sir Willoughby Norris formally opened the Whitford War Memorial. The community war memorial comprised memorial gates, playing fields, tennis courts, bowling greens, and a multi-purpose sports pavilion with a Plunket Room attached.
The memorial is sometimes referred to as the Whitford Memorial Sports Ground, sometimes as the Whitford War Memorial Domain.
The Hinuera stone memorial gates at the entrance bear the names of local men who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars. A roll of honour with the names of all local men who served in the South African War, the First World War and the Second World War hangs in the pavilion.
Sources: Whitford War Memorial [invitation], [Auckland, 1957]; 'Proud Day for the People of Whitford', NZ Herald, 30/4/1957, p. 12; 'Whitford War Memorial Opened', Howick Post, 9/5/1957, p. 1; 'Whitford War Memorial Sportsground', Whitford Turanga Newsreel, May 2005, pp. 1-2; Alan La Roche, Grey's Folly, Howick, 2011, p. 302.
Images and information: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries, 2013.