South African War Memorial

Public Art : South African War Memorial

Known also as : Trooper Statue

Stone Mason : © W. Parkinson

Sculptor : The statue was sculpted in Italy by an unknown sculptor.

Description : The Trooper statue is made out of marble and was originally used as a drinking fountain. Today it is gated off following vandalism. The right leg rests on a portion of a broken gun and the left hand once held a sword . Sadly the soldier's hand has been severed and the sword long stolen. At the base of the statue is the face of a lion from which water once flowed into a semi- cirular basin. The style is late Victorian civic monument. Eight names are recorded on the memorial.

Date unveiled: The Trooper statue was erected in 1902 by New Zealand Battery R.A. A full military ceremony accompanied the unveiling of the statue by the Right Honourable R. J. Seddon.

Location: The Trooper statue is located near the Flagstaff in Albert Park, Auckland, New Zealand.

History : The statue was erected in honor of the troops of the 7th New Zealand Contingent who died in the South African War of 1902.It was erected by New Zealand Battery R.A.

Trivia : The lion has long been used as a symbol for memorials of the Boer War suggesting strength, power and imperial dominance.

The hand was of the Trooper was severed in 1986 and later repaired. Not sure when the last hand severing occurred.

The Albert Park statue looks virtually identical to the Fred Wylie Memorial in Rotorua.

Fred Wylie Memorial and the Trooper Statue

Inscription :

Erected by the members of the NZ Battery RA in memory of their comrades. Leiutenant Geo. Leese. Corporal Herbert A. Edwards. Bombardier John Mays. Driver John Beck. Gunners Joseph Brown, Frederick Forbes, Arthur W. Kendall, and Driver Thomas Withers. Who lost their lives in the South African War 1900-01. Parkinson Sculptor Auckland.

South African War Memorial, Trooper Statue, Albert Park, Auckland