I was inspired to place this cache after watching a 1 News article about a lady named Ann Robbie in Southland maintaining and documenting 422 war memorials around Southland. She even found a memorial to 2 brothers killed on the same day in the Battle of Somme that had been missing for decades. The links for both of these articles is listed in the sources below. This cache is hopefully the first of a series of War Memorial caches I hope to place in my local area.
This sight is home to 2 memorials in a quaint little garden, it is well looked after and often goes unnoticed by the vehicles traveling past.
The largest monument was unveiled on Anzac Day 1924 commiserating World War 1. It originally was inscribed with the names of 18 men who had passed away (2 more names were later added) and 81 names who had served during WW1. Sometime after the Shannon War Memorial Hall was opened, a WW2 roll of honour was added to the monument.
At a later time, the name of a local soldier who was killed in Vietnam War (1969) was added and in 2011, 'Adopt an Anzac' added four more First World War and two more Second World War names.
The second monument is a memorial for the South African War remembering Lance Corporal Percy Nation who was killed at the Battle of Bothasberg in 1902. This memorial was restored in 2011 as close to the original as possible after being damaged by vandals in 2011.
Sources:
- New Zealand History Shannon War Memorial
-New Zealand History Shannon South African War Memorial
-1News Southland Women Working to Preserve Forgotten War Memorials
-1News Lost Flagpole Honoring Fallen Soldiers Found Atop Bluff Hill
The cache you are looking for is a black bison, containing only a log. Please bring your own pen.
Please be careful retrieving and replacing the cache - being careful or the bracket and ensuring the ring is facing away from the path.