30-04-2025
Whangaroa RSA centenary celebrated over two days and new book
The book was launched as part of a service led by Bishop Kito Pikaahu and Whangaroa RSA president Reverend Kevin Herewini, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Kāeo War Memorial Library, which was officially opened on Anzac Day 1925.
The celebration also included a presentation on World War II in Northland by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Northland manager Bill Edwards and volunteer researcher Jack Kemp; followed by a group bus tour that included such points of interest as Radar Hill, the radar station overlooking the Whangaroa Harbour, established in 1942 to monitor air and coastal traffic as part of New Zealand's defence during World War II.
The Kāeo War Memorial Library is listed on the New Zealand Heritage List Rārangi Kōrero as a Category 2 historic building and is one of just a small number of World War I memorial libraries in New Zealand – only seven in the country – that commemorate the fallen from that war.
Funds to build the library – constructed in the California Bungalow style of architecture – were raised through donations from the small community with a loan to obtain finance for the project, paid back within 18 months.
A Century of Stepping Up – Whangaroa RSA 1925-2025 costs $50 per copy.
Copies of this book may be purchased at the Whangaroa Museum and Archives Society.
