The Hawera Returned and Services’ Club in Princes Street was opened by the Hawera Borough mayor, Mr E. Dixon, on 12 December 1921. The building included a lounge and billiards room, hall, meeting room, canteen, reading room, and caretaker’s quarters. The architects, Duffill and Gibson, also designed the Hawera memorial arch, which was unveiled on an adjacent site in 1924.
Although not itself dedicated as a war memorial, the Services’ building (now the home of the South Taranaki RSA) does contain a number of rolls of honour, mostly transferred from disused community halls in the area. The framed and decorated Hawera Borough roll of honour in the foyer lists the names of more than 300 local men who served during the First World War. In the main hall, the Te Roti and the Tokaora District First and Second World rolls of honour and the Ohangai District [combined] First and Second World War roll of honour are all on display.
Community contributions