Ōtāhuhu Primary School First World War memorial gates.
On 11 December 1925, on the same day that the Minister of Education Sir James Parr formally opened the new Ōtāhuhu infant school buildings, his wife Lady Parr opened the Ōtāhuhuu District School First World War memorial gates. The gates consisted of two rough-cast pillars supporting a heavy, two-piece cast-iron gate.
In or around 1980 the pillars were moved further apart in order to widen the entrance, at which time the swinging gates were replaced by a chain.
The bronze shield mounted on the left hand pillar bears the words: "Service / In memory / of those / who / served / in the / Great War". The shield on the right-hand pillar bears the words: "1914-18 / France / Flanders / Egypt / Mesopotamia / Gallipoli."
The school does not hold an accompanying roll of honour, but the names of those honoured have been listed elsewhere as follows: William Brown, William Carson, William Corin, S.J. Discon, W. Frost, B. Farrelly, F. Graham, G.S. Hall, Robert Hayward, Joseph Irvine, Basil Kelsey, Claude Lippiatt, Eric Lippiatt, James McAnulty, John Muir, William Patterson, George Scurrah, R. Simmonds, William Trimble, Percy Wills, Burt Whiteley and Roy Wyates.
Sources: ‘New Infant School’, Auckland Star, 9/12/1925, p. 9; ‘Infant School at Otahuhu’, NZ Herald, 12/12/1925, p. 12; ‘New Infant Department’, Auckland Star, 12/12/1925, p. 16; Otahuhu District School Centennial, 1858-1958, Otahuhu, 1958; Albert Murdoch's Silver Service: 25 Years of the Otahuhu District School, 1921-1946, ed. Heather M. Hall, New Plymouth, 1997; A Passing Parade: A Reflection of 150 Years in Otahuhu, ed. Grant Howard, Otahuhu, 1998, p. 58; 'Otahuhu Primary School War Memorial Gates', Otahuhu Despatch, August 2013, p. 6.
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