The Eketāhuna War Memorial Committee built a ladies' restroom as the district's First World War memorial. This was formally opened on 28 September 1924. It was subsequently placed in the care of the Eketāhuna Borough Council. In October 1927 a memorial lych gate, funded by a donation from local resident Miss Alice E. Anderson, was also opened nearby.
The memorial restroom and lychgate were both badly damaged in the Wairarapa earthquakes of 1942. The rebuilt memorial building, which now included a small public hall, was formally rededicated as a memorial for both world wars on 6 July 1955.
Twelve granite tablets displayed in the porch list the names of 83 local men who gave their lives in the First World War and 21 men who gave their lives in the Second World War. Also on display is a brass tablet which lists the names of 25 local men who served in the South African War (this had first been installed in the Eketāhuna Post Office in January 1903).
Another, smaller brass plaque commemorates Private Bryan James Petersen, who was killed in action in Vietnam on 14 September 1968 (the Eketāhuna community raised funds to bring his body home).
In 2016 an 'Anzac sculpture plaza' was developed outside the memorial building. This installation incorporates the phrase 'Lest We Forget' outlined in iron letters, commemorative poles inscribed with the names of the local communities which sent men off to war, and the steel silhouettes of two New Zealand soldiers.
See: 'Eketahuna news', Wairarapa Daily Times, 31/1/1903, p. 2; 'Local and general', Pahiatua Herald, 26/9/1924, p. 4; 'News of the day', New Zealand Times, 1/4/1925, p. 6; 'Eketahuna notes', Dominion, 7/10/1927, p. 6; Irene Adcock, A Goodly Heritage: Eketahuna and Districts 100 Years, 1873-1973, Eketahuna, 1973, pp. 154, 251; 'Eketahuna war memorial project is going to hold the "wow" factor', Bush Telegraph, 26/9/2016.
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