Glenshea War Memorial Park, Putaruru
Putaruru’s Glenshea Park was first opened in 1933. Plans to develop it as a centennial memorial park were put on hold when the Second World War broke out. After the war it was decided to develop it as a war memorial park instead, with an indoor sports stadium, netball courts, tennis courts and swimming pool. War memorial gates were dedicated at the park’s entrance on 13 February 1955 (the Putaruru A & P Society had previously planted a row of memorial trees in the park, each with a plaque commemorating one of the servicemen named on the local cenotaph). The Putaruru memorial swimming pool was formally opened on 6 October 1956.
Some years later, as the memorial trees matured, the plaques were removed and set in a row along the foot of a concrete wall erected beside the park gates. The names listed are as follows: T.R. Baker, F.S. Blackwell, R.W. Boyes, J.M. Burgess, W. Crickett, D.P. Goodwin, R.H. Gillies, D.W. Eastgate, J.C. Donald, G.H. Dodds, A. Heke, R.E. Hildreth, C.T. Holley, A.J. Hooper, J.H. Howland, L.D. Lory, D.T. Morrison, G.W. Missen, I.L. Marshall-Inman, E. Martin, R.A. Martin, C. McCurran, L.M. McCurran, R.B. McClymont, D. McArthur, A. Nicklin, J.S. Paton, H.L. Patton, F. Pepperill, S.H. Purchas, R.R.C. Rollett, C.H.T. Sandford.
Sources: ‘Park Dedicated to Memory of Putaruru War Dead’, NZ Herald, 14/2/1955; ‘War Memorial Pool Opened’, Auckland Star, 6/10/1956; ‘War Memorial Swimming Pool’, NZ Herald, 8/10/1956, p. 15; Vicki Schere, Putaruru: Home of the Owl, Morrinsville, 1992, pp. 63, 79-80, 91-7; Glenshea Park, Putaruru: Reserve Management Plan, 2010.
Community contributions