This wooden roll of honour commemorating 42 Southland railway workers who died in the First World War is now stored in KiwiRail's office in Invercargill.
0n 27 February 1921 the local member of Parliament, J.A. Hanan, unveiled a roll of honour board at Invercargill’s railway station in honour of members of the Southland section of the Railways Department who had died during the First World War. The unveiling of the simple oak board attracted a crowd of four or five hundred people.
This was one of a group of 15 boards proposed for around the country to commemorate men from each rail district, the five main railway workshops and head office. The Railways Department listed all railwaymen who died on a roll of honour board unveiled at the department's head office in 1922.
The board includes the names of brothers Frederick Vincent Sutherland and Thomas Sutherland, from Arthurton, near Gore. Thomas went to Samoa with the Railway Engineers before becoming a corporal in the Otago Infantry Battalion; he was killed at Gallipoli on 2 May 1915, aged 22. Frederick, 25, a private in the Auckland Infantry Regiment, lost his life near Messines on 15 June 1917.
In 1951 new First and Second World War roll of honour boards were erected at Invercargill Railway Station. The 1920s-era oak board is now stored at KiwiRail’s offices in Invercargill and has recently been restored.
ROLL OF HONOUR
MEMBERS OF THE STAFF WHO
MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE
FOR THEIR KING AND COUNTRY
DURING THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919
INVERCARGILL SECTION
BALLANTYNE A.S. MELROSE R.M.
BOWLES W.B. MENZIES S.
CAVANAGH J. MILLAR J.S.
CLARK H.J. MORRIS E.G.M
COCKBURN E. McLEAN F.A.
COUPERTHWAITE P. McMAHON E.
DARRAGH J.A. NICHOLSON A.J.
DAVIDSON J.H. O'DONNELL D.
DICK H.J. ROBERTS J.P.
FOTHERINGHAM W. ROBERTSON A.M.
GRANT W.J.V. SCULLY P.
GUNN W.G. SELBY W.G.
HALLEY W. SPOWART M.W.
HANSEN J.A. STRACHAN J.P.
HAYWARD A.R. SUTHERLAND F.N.
HISLOP W.A. SUTHERLAND F.V.
JOHNSTON J.E. SUTHERLAND T.
KELLY F.G. WALLACE J.R.
LAMBETH T.A. WILKES R.
LAUDER G.S. WILLIAMS A.F.S.
MACKAY J.R. WYATT A.
N.Z. RAILWAYS.
The names on this roll of honour were included on one of two metal plaques unveiled after the Second World War. These plaques are still on display at KiwiRail's office in Invercargill. The Second World War commemorative plaque reads as follows:
ROLL OF HONOUR
SOUTHLAND DISTRICT RAILWAY EMPLOYEES
WORLD WAR II 1939 - 1945
NAVY
HABERFIELD J K T
ARMY
BAILEY D A GORDON J P McHARDY L A
BARTER G E HALL H J MARTIN J K
BRENTON L G ISITT F R MATHESON V G
BRETT R F G JONES R O NEWTON G H I
CAMPBELL S J KIDD C W SHIELDS J K
CUNNINGHAM J A LEONARD J W SUTHERLAND F J
DAVIS D G McCORKINDALE N D THURLOW J S W
FINN J E McELHINNEY W J D YOUNG S E
AIR FORCE
BAIRD N K JOHNSTONE J H
DAWSON S J McDOUGALL J R
FINN J G THOMAS C F
LEST WE FORGET
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