Mr A.J. Murdoch, the MP for Marsden, formally opened the Kiripaka war memorial bridge on 17 January 1948. The concrete bridge across the Ngunguru River, which had been funded by subscriptions from local residents, was handed over to the custody of Whangarei County Council during the ceremony. A memorial tablet listing the names of three men who had been killed in the Second World War and 15 men who had served was set into one of the columns of the bridge’s parapet. In 1994, when the parapet was removed for safety reasons, the memorial tablet was moved to a purpose-built concrete plinth in a small park at the eastern end of the bridge.
See: ‘All Who Use Bridge Will Recall Kiripaka Servicemen, Northern Advocate, 19/1/1948, p. 2.
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