A WORTHY MONUMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20420, 23 November 1929, Page 5 (Supplement)

A WORTHY MONUMENT.

MANY MEMORIAL FEATURES.

One enters the building through two huge sliding doors, set in bronze frames and surmounted with a bronze lintel, with the following inscription: The citizens of Auckland raised this building to the memory of those from this province who served in the Great War. MCMXIV.—MCMXVIII.' They were a wall unto u» both by night and by day. First, there is a lobby lined with New Zealand marble, and from it one passes through wind-screen doors to' the central entrance hall, a spacious chamber, that fully maintains the atmosphere created by the Cenotaph and the colonnaded front. In subdued light, massive lonic columns rise to a height of 30 ft. and smaller columns, after the Corinthian stylo, line the wide entrances to groundfloor courts, and marble staircases, right and left, lead up to galleries. One can give only impressions gf this hall. The spirit of the memorial is felt as one enters it.

There is a sense of solemn dignity, that will hush tho voice of the crowd and bring uplift to tho hearts of men. One feels that here is a grand harmony in stone that will echo down the centuries.

From the lofty ceiling of stained glass, which covers the whole area of the well space, the light streams down, becoming more subdued as it penetrates to the floor, and thereby aiding the effect which the architects have so successfully striven to create.

On th' 9 north wall of the gallery, in a square recess, are large-scale war maps, painted in bright colours and surrounded by the coats-of-arms of all the Allies in coloured relief. The world is shown as it was ruled before the war and after it, with lines showing the various war fronts at important stages of the conflict. Inset is a map on a larger scale of the principal portion of fche western front upon which the New Zealand Division was engaged, and another of the Anzac zone of Gallipoli, Possibly these maps are unique as far as the Southern Hemisphere is concerned. These maps were painted by Mrs. Jocelyn Brown, and were built up after a great deal of painstaking research among maps actually used in tho war. The coats-of-arms were modelled in plaster by Mr. R. Gross, and painted by Mrs. Brown. Flanking this recess are two small rooms, in which actual war maps, photographs and souvenir documents of interest to soldiers and historians are exhibited. Probably many treasures will be donated or lent for exhibition in these rooms, where men will be able to live, their war days over again and. recall memories.

On either side of the staircase landings, through wide vestibules lined with the smaller columns of after the Corinthian style, are haJJs, one devoted to war trophies and the other which was to have been the hall of memories, uoed as library and lecture hall for tho Auckland Institute,