War Memorial Clive

Description

Clive War Memorial – the soldier has toppled off and head is broken

The Clive First World War memorial was unveiled by General Sir Andrew Russell on Anzac Day 1921. The memorial was a life-size statue of a New Zealand infantryman, carved from Coromandel granite and mounted on a 14-foot high pedestal. According to a report of the ceremony published in the Hawke’s Bay Tribune the figure was “believed to be the first granite figure ever made in New Zealand”. The sculptor was Richard Gross and the work was designed and constructed by the Hawke’s Bay Monumental Works, Napier.

Text on plaque –
“THIS MONUMENT WAS UNVEILED BY
GEN. SIR ANDREW RUSSELL
[…]”

The main inscription reads [not shown] –

“FOR HONOUR & GLORY
THIS STONE WAS ERECTED
TO THE MEMORY OF
THE CLIVE BOYS
WHO FOUGHT
IN THE GREAT WAR
1914 – 1918”

There follows the names of 135 men, mostly listed in order of embarkation. Twenty-five of the men were killed in action.

After the Second World War four additional panels were placed on the memorial –

“THESE PANELS WERE ERECTED TO PERPETUATE
THE MEMORY OF THOSE IN THIS DISTRICT
WHO SERVED OVERSEAS IN THE 2ND WORLD WAR
1939 – 1945”

These listed the names of 15 men who had been killed and another 121 men who had also served (six in the Navy, 90 in the Army, nine in the Maori Battalion, and 16 in the Air Force); as well as two nurses. The panels were unveiled on 6 March 1948.

Sources: ‘In Other Places’, Evening Post, 26/4/1921, page 4; ‘Clive: Unveiling of War Memorial’, Hawke’s Bay Tribune, 26/4/1921, page 5