Featherston First World War memorial

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The Featherston First World War memorial, a gazebo-like structure which stands on the triangle formed by Fitzherbert, Fox and Wallace Streets, was built in part using surplus funds raised for the erection of the Wairarapa Anzac Club (later Anzac Hall). 

The memorial was unveiled by former Minister of Defence Sir James Allen on Anzac Day 1927. Its domed roof was supported by twelve pillars of reinforced concrete. The pillars incorporated stones from the Tauherenikau River (recalling the way the first soldiers at the nearby Featherston Military Training Camp had gathered stones to clear their parade grounds). 

The polished marble column sheltered within the cupola was inscribed: 

FEATHERSTON DISTRICT / WAR MEMORIAL / - / THE WAIRARAPA ANZAC CLUB / ERECTED AND MAINTAINED IN / FEATHERSTON FOR THE / VOLUNTEERS IN CAMP / DURING THE GREAT WAR / 1914 - 1918 / WAS PRESENTED TO THE TOWN / FROM THE MONEY DONATED BY / THE CLUB SUPPLEMENTED BY  / PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTIONS / 

THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED / TO THE MEMORY OF / THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / - / UNVEILED BY / HON.. SIR JAMES ALLEN G.C.M.G  K.C.B. / ANZAC DAY/ APRIL 25 1927.  

There followed the names of 48 local men. 

Another 29 Second World War names were added to the lower tier in 1950 (THESE NAMES ARE INSCRIBED / TO THE GLORIOUS MEMORY OF / THOSE MEN / OF THE FEATHERSTON DISTRICT/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY / IN THE BATTLEFIELDS / OF WORLD WAR II / 1939-1945).

A Combined Services plaque was added to the memorial in 2007.

See: 'Anzac Day', Wairarapa Daily Times, 26/4/1927, p. 6; David Yerex, Featherston, the First 150 years, 1857-2007, Featherston, 2007, p. 121; 'NZ Merchant Navy honoured', Wairarapa Times-Age, 4/9/2007, p. 3; Sherayl McNabb, 'Featherston District war memorial', Volunteers, vol. 37, no. 3, March 2012, pp. 194-6; Imelda Bargas and Tim Shoebridge, New Zealand's First World War Heritage, Auckland, 2015, p. 70; Featherston District War Memorial, Heritage New Zealand, 2020.