Mauku Victory Hall

There is an interesting and rather beautiful little hall in Union Road, Mauku (a semi-rural locality between Waiuku and Pukekohe). Known as the Mauku Victory Hall, this was formally opened by Governor-General Viscount Jellicoe on 7 June 1922.

Ref: Bruce Ringer, Mauku Victory Hall, August 2014.

Ref: Bruce Ringer, Mauku Victory Hall detail, August 2014.

Local residents had chosen the name ‘Victory Hall’ to show that the hall had been built not as a war memorial, but to commemorate the Allied victory in the First World War. A plaque inside the hall commemorates the opening.

Ref: Bruce Ringer, Mauku Victory Hall opening plaque, August 2014.

Ref: Bruce Ringer, Mauku Victory Hall window, August 2014.

On Anzac Day 1954, Colonel Max Aldred―who 32 years before had supplied the Guard of Honour during the opening ceremony―unveiled the Mauku District Roll of Honour in the hall. This was a brass tablet that listed 24 men from the district who saw active service during the First World War and 23 who saw active service during the Second World War (with two deaths from each war).

Ref: Bruce Ringer, Mauku District Roll of Honour, August 2014.

The hall that was originally built to celebrate victory thus came to house a tablet that commemorated the sacrifices made for victory.

Author: Bruce Ringer, South Auckland Research Centre