Pukeahu National War Memorial Park

Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, also known as Pukeahu Park, is situated in front of the National War Memorial in the suburb of Mt Cook, Wellington, New Zealand. It opened on 18 April 2015 in time for the centenary of the World War I Gallipoli landings, and was one of the New Zealand Government's key projects to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I.^[1] The hill where the memorial was built was named 'Pukeahu' (from Māori puke ahu, "sacred hill") by the Ngāi Tara iwi (tribe).^[2]

Pukeahu Park as seen from the Carillon

In May 2004, Prime Minister Helen Clark said,

A park would further enhance the area which is already being redeveloped with the building of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. It will provide a more appropriate setting for New Zealand's memorial to those New Zealanders who gave their lives in times of war. Significant aspects of our heritage and identity were forged in difficult times of conflict...this is illustrated by the growing numbers of people who attend Anzac Day services in New Zealand.^[3]

Arras Tunnel

 

Arras Tunnel, part of the Wellington Inner City Bypass, which passes under the Memorial Park

In 2005, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage worked with the New Zealand Transport Agency to acquire land on the northern side of Buckle Street, in front of the National War Memorial, to create a National Memorial Park. In August 2012, the government announced that the Buckle Street section of State Highway 1 would be moved underground to a cut and cover tunnel, allowing the park to extend over the old road area to create a unified memorial precinct.^[4]

The one-way tunnel is 130 m long.^[5] It opened to traffic on 29 September 2014, with the name of Arras Tunnel. The tunnel was named to honour the wartime efforts of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company in the French town of Arras during the Great War.^[6] The tunnel contains 273 decorative red poppies, to remind drivers that they are passing through a significant commemorative space.

Artworks, memorials and sculptures

The park contains memorials from both New Zealand's military allies and historic opponents.

Australian Memorial

 

Australian Memorial

The Australian memorial, designed by Australian architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, commemorates the significant military relationship between Australia and New Zealand. The memorial consists of fifteen red sandstone columns with various inscriptions and artworks by both Aboriginal and Māori artists.^[7] The memorial was opened in April 2015 by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.^[8]

Belgian Memorial

The Belgian memorial was designed by Belgian artists Niko Van Stichel and Lut Vandebos. Made of steel, the sculpture combines both a traditional symbol of victory, the laurel wreath, with a memorial wreath as a tribute to those who died in battle. A similar sculpture has been installed in East Flanders, Belgium. Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Didier Reynders, attended a site blessing ceremony followed by outgoing Belgian Ambassador Jean-Luc Bodson breaking ground.^[9] Mauri stones and soil from Belgium were placed into the ground by Ambassador Mullie at a later September 2017 ceremony, and the sculpture was unveiled in October 2017.^[10]

French Memorial

The French Memorial Le Calligramme was unveiled by French Minister for State Geneviève Darrieussecq and Minister of Justice, Courts and Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little in May 2018.^[11]

Le Calligramme features an inscription of the words of French soldier Guillaume Apollinaire's 1915 poem Le Chant de l’Honneur (Song of Honour), published in a book titled Calligrammes: Poems of Peace and War 1913-1916. The memorial combines landscaping with two large elements made of local stone and crushed French Combe Brune stone from the Western Front. The memorial was designed by architectural firm Patterson Associates Ltd, with Paul Baragwanath and Suzanne Turley Landscapes, and constructed by Naylor Love.^[12][13]

German Tapestry

In November 2017, the President of Germany, Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier unveiled a memorial tapestry gifted on behalf of Germany while visiting the National War Memorial. Titled Flandern, the tapestry is based on one of a series of photographs of 14 First World War battlefield sites.^[14] The artist, Stephen Schenk, explained that the work was "a reminder of the untold misery and horror, and was created to remember the victims of this inconceivable catastrophe of the twentieth century".^[14]

Pacific Islands Memorial

 

The Pacific Islands memorial

A memorial honouring the service of Pacific Islanders in the world wars and later conflicts was dedicated in March 2021, specifically honouring the service of overseas soldiers and the Coastwatchers.^[15] Titled Te Reo Hotunui o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (translating to The Deep Sigh of the Pacific), the memorial features a large bronze sculpture of a conch (Chicoreus ramosus) shell with remembrance poppies.^[16] Designed by Michel Tuffery, the sculpture was inspired by a conch shell found in a World War I-era tunnel in Arras, France that was inscribed by Private Angene Angene, a Cook Islander who served on the Western Front.^[17] The dedication was attended by the prime ministers of New Zealand and the Cook Islands, Jacinda Ardern and Mark Brown.^[15] At the dedication, both prime ministers called for increased recognition of the military service of Pacific Islanders.^[18]

Turkish Memorial

Unveiled in March 2017, this memorial features a free-standing bronze plaque with words of reconciliation widely attributed to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk cut through it. This allows the viewer to see a Turkish red pine (pinus brutia) descended from the original Lone Pine at Gallipoli, which is planted directly behind the plaque. The memorial was designed by New Zealand artist and Army Gunner Matt Gauldie.^[19]

United Kingdom Memorial

 

Whakaruruhau United Kingdom Memorial

In July 2017, the United Kingdom Memorial was unveiled by the UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Boris Johnson. The memorial was designed and built by Weta Workshop with input from students at Massey University and the British Wimbledon College of Arts.^[20]

The design takes the form of two of the UK and New Zealand's most iconic trees. The trunks of a Royal Oak and a Pōhutakawa intertwine to form one single leafy canopy, where leaves from both trees merge to create sense of shelter – giving the memorial its name: Whakaruruhau. Standing at the plaque, between the branches a silhouette of a single soldier can be seen, representing the union of two countries who stood side by side and those millions who served in times of conflict, resolution and peace.^[20]

United States of America Memorial

On 10 December 2018, the U.S. Memorial representing the United States and New Zealand's shared history was unveiled, commissioned by the U.S. Government and the American Battle Monuments Commission. The memorial contains a granite tablet carved in Madison, Wisconsin, with words taken from a radio address delivered on Anzac Day 1943, by the US Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox.^[21] It reads:

Together, in our strength, we shall keep that ocean – Pacific! ... As we are comrades in battle, so we shall be partners in victory. I salute the lands of the ANZACs as our companions in the peace that will follow, comrades and partners as an example to all the world of what can be accomplished by a fraternity of free men.

1918 Influenza Pandemic Memorial Plaque

On 6 November 2019 a memorial plaque for the victims of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic was unveiled at Pukeahu. The pandemic killed around 9000 New Zealanders. The plaque was designed by Neil Pardington and Wraight & Associates, and was unveiled by the Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern with historian Geoffrey Rice.^[22]

Awards

• New Zealand Indigenous and Specialty Timber Award – Resene Timber Design Awards 2015
• Public Architecture Award – New Zealand Architecture Awards 2016
• George Malcolm Award – New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects 2017

References

1. "Pukeahu Park". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
2. "Pukeahu National War Memorial Park: Pukeahu History". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
3. (Press release). New Zealand Government. 2004. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 2006-07-21.
4. "Memorial Park". NZ Transport Agency. from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
5. Arras Tunnel [pamphlet] (PDF). Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Transport Agency. 2014.
6. "Arras Tunnel". Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
7. "Australian Memorial | Ministry for Culture and Heritage". mch.govt.nz. from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
8. "Dedication of Australian Memorial in Pukeahu National War Memorial Park". The Beehive. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
9. "Memorial to recognise bonds of war". www.scoop.co.nz. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
10. O'Brien, Tova (12 October 2017). "New Passchendaele war memorial unveiled in Wellington". Newshub. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
11. "Sculpture linking NZ and France unveiled". RNZ. 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
12. French Embassy in New Zealand (2018). "The French Memorial Project". French Memorial: Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
13. "French Memorial, Pukeahu". Naylor Love, Commercial Construction. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
14. "German Tapestry". Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
15. "Pacific Islands Memorial unveiled at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park". Architecture Now. from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
16. "Pacific Islands Memorial – Te Reo Hotunui o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa | Ministry for Culture and Heritage". mch.govt.nz. from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
17. "Pacific war service honoured with conch shell sculpture". Stuff. 2021-03-12. from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
18. "Memorial marks Pacific nations' support during world wars – PM". RNZ. 2021-03-27. from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
19. "Turkish Memorial". Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
20. "UK Memorial". Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
21. "US Memorial". Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
22. "Pukeahu National War Memorial Park: 1918 Influenza Pandemic Memorial Plaque" (Press release). Government of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 2019-11-06. from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2020-12-31.

41°17′56″S 174°46′38″E / 41.2989°S 174.7772°E / -41.2989; 174.7772