One-hundred years on, Tauranga's fallen soldiers honoured again

Memorial Gates opening ceremony at Tauranga Domain, December 11, 1921. Photo / Supplied

One-hundred years after Tauranga's Memorial Gates first opened to honour the lives of those killed in WWI, those fallen soldiers have been commemorated again.

Tauranga City Council has established a new interpretation panel at the gates on Cameron Rd and a collection of posters have been placed throughout the CBD to put faces to the names of some of those soldiers.

A "Together we remember" display has been set up in the Ngā Wāhi Rangahau research room at Tauranga Library, providing more details about the memorial with items connected to the gates and soldiers.

An interpretation panel explaining the significance of the Memorial Gates has been established. Photo / Supplied

The Memorial Gates feature the names of 90 men and the stories of 26 soldiers are on display on posters including those of Reginald Watkins and Samuel Tanner.

Watkins' poster is in Red Square - the same spot from where he left by horse and cart to travel to Trentham to train for war.

Tanner was a merchant marine who ship was torpedoed and sunk. His story is located near the water on The Strand.

Tauranga Heritage Collection curator Fiona Kean said the project was a labour or love.

"I started researching the First World War and its impact on Tauranga in 2008, so it's quite emotional for me to say goodbye to these boys."

Watkins' family have entrusted an archive of his life to the Tauranga Heritage Collection and some of his belongings make up part of the display at the library.

The "Together we Remember" display at Tauranga Library. Photo / Supplied

"We are the kaitiaki for them and the community. It's a very special project to have been a part of."

The Memorial Gates were last restored in 2014 and the display also includes a piece of one of the original pillars that could not be saved.

Historian and Tauranga Historical Society Committee member Debbie McCauley said: "The addition of the new interpretation panel serves to honour, in this small way, those who had no idea that their 'big adventure' would mean the end of their lives and years of heartache for their families."

The "More than a name" posters will remain in the CBD until early January and the "Together we remember" display in the Tauranga Library until February.

The stories of 26 of Tauranga's fallen heroes are featured in these 'More than a name' posters on display in the CBD until early January. Photo / Supplied