On 16 December 1920, Mr C. Matthews, chairman of Cook County Council, unveiled the Manutuke District Roll of Honour at Te Arai School (later renamed Manutuke School). The large, polished rimu memorial tablet, which had been donated to the community by the Manutuke Women’s National Reserve, listed the names of 79 young men from the district who had served during the war, ten of whom had made the supreme sacrifice (‘Te Arai Honors Board’, Poverty Bay Herald, 17/12/1920, p. 11).
The names of those who had died were John Clark (Jun.), A. H. Clark, W. C. Daulton, R. F. Daulton, C. Jones, H. S. Gibson, E. F. R. Hills, James Hobbs, T. R. W. Preston and R. Mills.
Others who had enlisted were recorded as: Mohi Akurangi, A. F. Barber, J. A. Baty (MM and bar), J. Boyd, H. Black, J. Clark, A. H. Clark, E. M. Catton, W. C. Daulton, A. R. Catton, F. H. Daulton, A. J. Finucane, R. F. Daulton, H. S. Gibson, H. J. Daulton, J. A. Gibson, G. M. Daulton, W. M. Halbert, E. F. R. Hills, R. T. Halbert, F. Hobbs, Rangi Halbert, J. Hobbs, G. D. Jobson, C. Jones, J. Jobson, A. Kirk, Wirenui [Wiremu] Karena, H. Kirk, Rua Manuka [Kanuka], H. B. Livingstone, C. E. Lees, A. G. Morris, Rongo Mills, A. V. Morris, T. G. Mulcaster, J. Nepia, T. R. W. Preston, C. E. Peryer, R. W. Preston, T. Pohatu, L. L. Preston, H. Pomana (Croix de Guerre), R. Patene, W. Patene, M. Pohatu, H. Rawhira, P. Ruru, J. T. Ryan, R. Rua, H. Renata, H. B. Roberts, W. Sherwood, Matu Smith, E. J. Sherwood, Hori Smoke, H. Scragg, J. Tutapo [Tuapatu], T. Tooki [Tooke], W. Taylor, A. J. Wilson, T. Ward, R. Waipara, C. Westrupp, P. Waaka, E. Williams, P. Waikare, J. Watt and H. Williamson.
In 1926 the Manutuke Memorial Hall was opened nearby. The roll of honour was then transferred to the hall. After the Second World War, another community roll of honour was added. This was of the same size and design as the First World War roll of honour, and listed 14 men who had made the supreme sacrifice and 95 who had also served.
The rolls of honour were removed from the hall for restoration in 2015, at which time the spelling of some of the names was corrected. The hall is currently in poor repair and may be rebuilt. In the meantime, the rolls of honour will be placed in the Manutuke fire station.
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