Armistice Day commemorations are continuing in Tauranga this week, with five more crosses being added to the Field of Remembrance on the city's waterfront today.
Fallen troops Eric Corbett, Thomas Lochhead, Alban Taylor, Robert F W Wall and Sidney Ward each had a cross erected in their honour.
Eric Corbett, 32, was born in Suva, Fiji, on August 4, 1886. Corbett was President of Chemists' Employees Union before the war. He was enlisted on to fight as a rifleman in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He served in France and was shot in the chest and wrists on July 16, 1918. He died from his injuries the following day.
Thomas Lochhead, 27, was born in Dunsandel, Canterbury on October 2, 1890. He was enlisted on July 26, 1916, working as a farmer beforehand. He joined the NZ Rifle Brigade as a rifleman. Lochhead was killed in action on August 26, 1918, in France.
Alban Taylor, 32, was born in Auckland on June 4, 1886. He was working as a self-employed carpenter in Mount Maunganui before he was enlisted on October 20, 1914. He was a sergeant in the Auckland Infantry Battalion. Taylor was killed in action in France on August 27, 2018.
Robert F W Wall, 25, was born in Waverley, Taranaki on November 2, 1891. Prior to being enlisted on February 2, 1917, he was working as a farmer. He fought as a private in the Auckland Infantry Regiment and was killed in action in France on August 30 1918.
Sidney Ward, 22, was born in Tauranga on April 11, 1896. Prior to enlistment, he acted as Mayor of Tauranga and worked as a bank clerk at the Bank of New Zealand. Ward enlisted on January 30, 1917, as a lance-corporal and was killed in action on August 25, 1918, in France.