St Andrew's Church memorials, Howick

The Presbytery of Auckland roll of honour hangs in the old Howick Presbyterian Church building―now known as the chapel―at St Andrew’s Church Centre, Howick. The roll lists the names of 21 men connected with parishes in the Presbytery of Auckland who gave their lives during the first year of the First World War. It was originally unveiled during a service of intercession at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Symonds Street, Auckland, on 4 August 1915 (whether the item at Howick is the original or a facsimile and/or the date it was transferred to Howick is unknown).

The roll of honour lists the name, rank and parish of each man in bold letters, with their unit, date of death and sometimes age at death given in smaller letters underneath. Thus (some abridgements have been spelt out here): Lieutenant Robert A. Frater, St Andrew’s, 3^rd Auckland, April 28, age 23; Lieutenant Douglas Dawson, St Stephen’s, Australian Contingent, May 7, age 22; Lieutenant F. James Weir, Ellerslie, Auckland Mounted Rifles, June 5, age 21; Lieutenant Roy Cargo, Somervell, Wellington Infantry, June 3; Sergeant Roy W. Lambert, St David’s, 3^rd Auckland, April 25, age 26; Trooper Dillworth Mossman, Ellerslie, Auckland Mounted Rifles, May 25, age 21; Private Alex. P. Lornie, Edendale, 3^rd Auckland, June 25, age 24; Private Henry K. Anderson, St James’, Auckland Infantry, May 21, age 33; Private Ernest Cook, St Peter’s, 3^rd Auckland, April 23; Private Robert C. Graham, Mangere, 1^st Australian Division, June 25, age 28; Private Stephen A. Bell, Howick, 16^th Waikato, May 8, age 28; Private Roy A. Munro, Papakura, 6^th Hauraki, May 15; Private Leslie G. Clark, Papakura, Auckland Infantry, June 14; Private Adam Tawse, Pukekohe, Auckland Infantry, May 8; Private N. Kenneth McLeod, Waipū, Auckland Mounted Rifles, June 12; Trooper A.N. McFarlane, Waipū, 5^th Mounted Rifles, June 16; Private Ernest Gribble, St David’s, New Zealand Medical Corps, July 23, age 23; Lieutenant C. Preston Logan, Waipū, North Auckland Mounted Rifles, May 22, age 22; Bugler Gordon Mackay, Waipū, died at sea, May 14, age 20; Sergeant Allan Wallace, Devonport, British Division; Private Duncan Fraser, Pokeno, died at Trentham, July 27, age 23.

There is another wartime memento in the more recently built church centre next door: the ‘Burning Bush’ stained glass window. This was originally erected in St Peter’s Presbyterian Church, Grey Lynn, in honour of a parishioner, Gordon McCulloch, who had been killed at Bapaume on 26 August 1918. It was not incorporated into the new St Peter’s church building in 1956, after which the family gave the window to the Uxbridge Presbyterian Church. It remained in storage until the new St Andrew’s Church Centre was built in 1981, when it was installed in a feature wall in the foyer. The shape of the frame was altered at the time from a circle to a square.

Sources: ‘War Anniversary’, Auckland Star, 31/7/1915, p. 9; Ailsa James, One Hundred and Fifty Years: A Research of the History of the Presbyterians in Howick, Howick, 2004, pp. 38-9, 43; Auckland’s First World War Heritage Trail, Auckland, 2014, pp. 44-5.