The names of those from the Auckland Province who died while serving in the Merchant Navy during World War II were not originally included in the Roll of Honour. They were excluded because Merchant Navy personnel were not officially members of the armed services, despite risking their lives to keep food convoys moving to Great Britain and to support our armed forces overseas. Their names were added in 1996.
Rolls of Honour for the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Malaya–Borneo campaign, and later for Kuwait, East Timor and Afghanistan were subsequently installed in the World War II Hall of Memories, extending commemoration to New Zealand service personnel from these conflicts.
The altar in the hall shows a victorious figure standing on a globe, reflecting the global scale of the war. Three stained glass windows behind the altar display the insignia of units not represented elsewhere in the building, including nurses, WAAFs, WAACs and WRNZNs, and also acknowledge the women, elderly and children who remained at home.
The ironwork supporting the Roll of Honour books is shaped as poppies, echoing the poppy motifs in the original brasswork and signalling the loss of a second generation of Auckland’s youth.