Fallen comrades honoured and remembered

A moving dedication ceremony and memorial stone unveiling marked the commemoration of the seven people, including four police officers, murdered by gunman Stanley Graham 63 years ago on 8 October 1941.

The 8 October 2004 ceremony at Kowhitiranga, inland from Hokitika, commemorated the four officers, two Homes Guardsmen and an agriculturist killed by Graham.

More than 100 relatives of the slain men and 50 police officers were among the 300 attending the ceremony.

One of the last surviving members of the huge group of Police, Army and Home Guard who were involved in the hunt for Graham, local farmer Henry Growcott, unveiled the memorial.

Tasman District Commander, Superintendent Grant O’Fee, led the memorial project and former Constable Barry Thomson, crafted the stunning seven tonne granite and bronze memorial.

“The feedback from the family members of the officers was very positive and nice to hear,” says Grant. “They were grateful and satisfied to see their relatives remembered in this way.”