The memorial also officially remembers the New Zealanders who gave their lives in the South African War, World War II and the wars in Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam. The War Memorial consists of the War Memorial Carillon, the Hall of Memories, and an unknown New Zealand warrior interred in a tomb constructed in 2004 in front of the Hall of Memories. Four Rolls of Honour bear the names and ranks of 28,654 New Zealanders.
The Carillon
The Carillon was designed as a sister instrument to the Peace Tower in Ottawa, Canada. The bells were made in Croydon England and arrived in New Zealand in January 1931. The original 49 bells were private donations in memory of World War I casualties. Each of these bells has a name and dedication inscription.
Since 1984 the Carillon has been substantially rebuilt and enlarged. Twenty mid-range bells have been replaced, and twenty one smaller treble bells have been added. In 1995 the government donated four very large bass bells, Peace (Rangimarie), Hope (Tumanako), Grace (Aroha) and Remembrance (Whakamaharatanga) to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II. Peace is the largest bell in the southern hemisphere..
The complex made considerable use of New Zealand stone. The carillon was clad with pinkish-brown Putaruru stone. Unfortunately the material was variable and weathered badly in places. It was removed from the carillon and replaced by Takaka marble in 1982. The Carillon ranks as the third largest in the world by total weight.
The National War Memorial Carillon now has 74 bells ranging in size from 10kgs to 12.5 tonnes. With a combined weight of 70.5 tonnes, the Carillon is the third largest of its kind in the world. It has a musical range of 6.5 octaves. The Largest Bell in the Carillon is 'PEACE' — Rangimarie.
More info can be found at the following Web page Link to National War Memorial
Hall of Memories
The Hall of Memories is approached through an octagonal vestibule forming the base of the Carillon Tower. Inside there are six memorial alcoves on each side leading up to an apse and Sanctuary at the southern end of the Hall. These alcoves are designed as small side chapels dedicated to the different branches of the New Zealand Armed Forces that have served in overseas conflicts.
The National Memorial is open at the following times to the general public
Monday-Saturday 10:30am to 4:30pm
Sunday Noon to 4.30pm
Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day only
Tomb of the Unknown Warrior
To serve as a focus of remembrance for the sacrifice made by all New Zealand servicemen and women, in 2004 a project was undertaken to repatriate the body of an unknown warrior for burial in the new Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.
The Unknown Warrior is one of over 250,000 New Zealanders who served in overseas wars. He is one of 30,000 who died in service. He is one of over 9000 who have no known grave or whose remains could never be recovered. The remains were chosen by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission from the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, near where the New Zealand Division fought in 1916.
As the soldier's name, rank, regiment, race, religion and other details are unknown, he represents and honours all New Zealanders who became lost to their families in war.
The Warrior was finally laid to rest in the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior on Thursday 11 November 2004, Armistice Day.
The Tomb is sealed with a bronze mantel bearing the words:
"An Unknown New Zealand Warrior
He Toa Matangaro No Aotearoa"
The Cache
The cache is a small pill bottle containing a logbook only and has no room for swaps. The difficulty rating is the ability of retrieving the cache as it is placed in a very HIGH muggle location.
Please replace it back to the exact position that you found it as we don't want it to be muggled as this location is a VERY high muggle location.
Please NOTE that you must sign the logbook for each individual cacher or provide proof in the form of a photo for group logs to be emailed to the owner, otherwise your log may be deleted.