First World War Memorial

Looking westwards over Devonport's marine square is the First World War Memorial, the bronze figure of a soldier with rifle slung, boot laces undone and hat in hand, taking his last look before leaving the battlefield.

The Devonport First World War Memorial was one of many memorials built following the First World War. The memorial was erected to commemorate Devonport locals killed in WWI, with plaques added later to memorialise the names of those killed in later wars and engagements, including WWII and the Korean War.

Although many memorials were commissioned after WWI, not many were by local artists. A public competition for the design was won by Australian-born, New Zealand sculptor Frank Lynch in March 1922. A veteran of Gallipoli, Lynch sought to give the statue a life-like character and is one of only a handful of memorials in New Zealand offering such a personal and human-scale glimpse of soldierly life.

The Memorial is affectionately known as the 'Untidy Soldier' and befits the original inscription – "Remembering those dead, let the living be humble."