Town's war memorial angel restored

CRAFTSMAN AT WORK: Master craftsman Paul Marshall preparing to attach a new arm to the angel atop Kaitaia's war memorial.

Kaitaia's historic World War I memorial angel once again has two arms, more than 20 years after it was damaged, thanks to a group of local Vietnam veterans and internationally recognised local sculptor and carver Paul Marshall.

The veterans, all old boys of Kaitaia College/District High School, had been meeting for more than three years to plan the "overdue" refurbishment of the memorial, and its re-dedication on the anniversary of its centenary next year, Ray Beatson said.

Mr Beatson, who grew up in Kaitaia and is driving the project to restore the sculpture in time for the centennial on March 24, 2016, said it was fantastic to see the angel's grace and beauty restored, fittingly before Anzac Day.

Fellow veteran Ritchie Taaffe said the restoration group had been extremely fortunate to have Paul Marshall on board.

"The finished product, carved from a block of Italian marble, is testimony to the quality of Paul's commitment and workmanship," he said.

The original plan had been to carve and install a replacement arm, and reconstitute the text and lettering on the memorial, which had been damaged beyond economical repair. The type and style of lead lettering used was no longer available, however, and attempts to replicate it could have potentially done more damage. Accordingly the decision was made to replicate the wording on a bronze plaque that would be fixed to the base of the monument.

"We could not have got this far without the dedication of local fundraisers Ritchie Taaffe, Arthur Simeon and David Russell," Mr Beatson said.

"We have also had terrific support from people and businesses in the wider community, Te Hiku Community Board and the Far North District Council. The journey is not yet over though; we've now got to get on with planning for the angel's re-dedication next year."

Mr Russell said fundraising would be on-going.

"Publicity in the Northland Age last year led to the identification of another 35 soldiers from Mangonui who died as a result of their service in World War I, so we are going to have a bronze plaque made recording their names. There is a lot more work to be done on the memorial as well before we can have the bronze plaques fixed to it.

Mr Simeon said the restoration project had created greater public awareness of the memorial and its angel.

"We are now working with the community board, the district council, the RSA and other interested parties on upgrading the whole of Remembrance Park. A green space will be developed in the middle of Kaitaia, and it will be looking good for the memorial's re-dedication in March next year."

The memorial is recognised as being of outstanding national historical and cultural significance. Long considered to be the first erected in New Zealand for World War I, and now believed to be one of the first three, it was the first to be unveiled in New Zealand, and is understood to be the only war memorial in the country that is fully bilingual in Maori and English.

It was relocated in the 1960s from a paddock adjacent to the Kauri Arms Tavern and placed alongside the World War II memorial adjacent to Kaitaia's Memorial Swimming Baths.

Both were subsequently moved to their present prominent position in Remembrance Park, on the corner of Matthews Avenue and Melba Street, and incorporated in one memorial that commemorates those who died during the both world wars, as well as those who died during the South African (Boer) War and in the conflicts of Malaya-Borneo and Vietnam.

The New Zealand Historic Places Trust registered the World War I memorial as a Category 1 Historic Place on November 1, 2012.