Witold Bukowski

Auckland architect and Purewa board member John Bukowski, recalls his father’s path as a refugee warrior, writing that Witold crossed the border at Kuty, then travelled on foot and train to Bucharest and on to the port of Constantinople. John remembers his father saying that to converse with priests who assisted the Poles along the way, Witold spoke in Latin, as Nazi spies were everywhere. Finally reaching France, the Polish pilots regrouped for a short time before it too fell to the German onslaught. They finished their sojourn in England as part of the Royal Air Force, based in Blackpool. From 1940, Bukowski’s 301 bomber air squadron earned a legendary status. As a captain with the 301, he led missions targeting key German strongholds on some of the most dangerous missions of the war—striking Rostock, Hamburg, Essen and Bremen flying Wellington Bombers.

Walter Batty

Walter Batty was born in Tonga to an English Father and a Tongan Mother and moved to New Zealand as a child, living in Ponsonby with his Aunt Edith and attending Auckland Grammar School.

Sir Arthur Owen Woodhouse

Sir Owen (as he was known) was the architect of the New Zealand Accident Compensation Scheme (ACC). Sir Owen served during World War II as a Motor Torpedo Boat commander. He had many legendary exploits of bravery and initiative associated with his service for which he was awarded the DSC.

William Sanders

William Sanders was born in Auckland on 7 February 1883. He grew up in Takapuna where his father dug Kauri Gum and ran a cobbling business. Sanders took a job as a cabin boy when he was 15 and spent the next 16 years on a variety of merchant ships rising to master by 1915. Sanders spent a year on the Government steamer NZGSS Hinemoa, which was used to supply lighthouses, service navigation buoys, and restock and maintain depots for castaways on the remote sub-Antarctic islands.

Cora Beattie Roberton

Cora Roberton nee Anderson had a distinguished career as a nurse having survived the ‘Elingamite’ disaster of 1902. The passenger steamer Elingamite had been returning from Sydney to Auckland when in dense fog 35 miles north of Cape Reinga it struck rocks. On board were 136 passengers and 58 crew of whom 28 passengers and 17 of the crew died from drowning or exposure

Henry William Northcroft

England born Henry Northcroft served in the New Zealand Colonial Forces during what were then known as the Maori Wars of the 1860s. The conflict is now described as the New Zealand Land Wars. This controversial period in New Zealand history has been much debated by historians. It is now generally accepted that the wars were primarily caused by pressure from European settlers for land, the ownership of which had been recognized under the Treaty of Waitangi.

George Dare Dowell

The aptly named George Dare Dowell served in the Royal Marines from 1849 to 1872. He was decorated with the Victoria Cross in 1857, the highest British award for gallantry, for action during the Crimean War when he rescued a drifting cutter that was in danger of falling into Russian hands. Dowell rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

George Palmer Cade

George Cade was born at Hawera, Taranaki, in 1909. In 1928, Cade joined the New Zealand Army, and in 1940 left New Zealand with the first echelons. He saw action in Greece and Crete in 1941, as well as serving in North Africa between 1941-43.