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Nearly every town, city and settlement in New Zealand has a memorial honouring local servicemen and women killed in war - and Dunedin is no exception, with its grand marble cenotaph. The Cenotaph is the focus of commemorative services each ANZAC Day on 25 April.

About ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day originally paid tribute to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps troops who were killed in the World War One Gallipoli campaign. New Zealand's part in this campaign began on April 25, 1915, when they landed at what became known as Anzac Cove on the Turkish peninsula.

The campaign against Germany's allies lasted eight disastrous months and resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 New Zealand, Australian, British, French and Turkish soldiers with another quarter of a million wounded.

Out of the 8556 New Zealand soldiers involved in the campaign, 2721 were killed and thousands more were injured.

ANZAC Day was unofficially celebrated in New Zealand for five years until 1921 when it became an official public holiday to remember the courage and sacrifice of all New Zealanders who fought and died in the Great War. ANZAC Day has since been expanded to include remembrance for New Zealanders lost during World War Two and other wars and to honour all returned servicemen and women.

Dunedin's monument

Plans were already underway to construct a large war memorial in Dunedin at the time that ANZAC Day became an official public holiday in New Zealand.

Initial planning had begun with a public meeting and formation of the inevitable committee in 1920. Progress was slow and another committee was formed which decided:

• The memorial should be non-utilitarian (some people argued for a Town Hall)
• The site be Queens Gardens
• To advertise a competition for designs
• To raise not less than 10,000 pounds

The winner of the design competition was Henry Gummer of Prouse and Gummer, Auckland.

The competition judge dismissed most of the 63 entries as unsuitable because they suggested the 'abject despair' of a 'vanquished people' where Gummer's reflected 'great sacrifices' and 'mighty deeds'. Around 30 of the unsuccessful entries are still held by Auckland University's School of Architecture.

Aside from the Dunedin cenotaph, Henry Gummer also designed the Bridge of Remembrance in Christchurch (1921), the Auckland Grammar School memorial (1921) and the Massey Memorial in Wellington (1928).

The Cenotaph is built

The foundation stone for the Dunedin cenotaph was laid by the Mayor, H Livingstone Tapley, on ANZAC Day, 1924. Some interesting items were placed in the cavity under the stone, including the official history of New Zealand's part in the war and also Byrne's history of the Otago Regiment, a statement of the bodies of troops that had left Dunedin, and copies of current newspapers.

Before the structure itself could be built there was some difficulty in raising the sum required due to the difficult post-war environment. Because of this shortfall in funding, the bronze figures in the original design were left off.

The final design took the form of a tall shaft encased in imported Italian Carrara marble. JL Salmond was the local architect and the contract was let in September 1924, at 8420 pounds.

The inscription at the base read "The Glorious Dead 1914-1918" with the addition, after World War 2, of "The Glorious Dead 1939-1945".

The Cenotaph was unveiled by HRH, the Duke of York, on 17 March 1927, during his visit to New Zealand and is still the focus of ANZAC Day commemorations.