In the not too distant future, you may see poppies sprouting on North Shore Street signs. They’ll be there as a sign of remembrance, part of a nationwide Places of Remembrance project by the New Zealand Poppy Places Trust, which has been established to commemorate and recognise the participation of New Zealand in military conflicts and military operational services overseas.

The Poppy Places Trust believes there are perhaps 3000 places which “if left to history may disappear from our collective consciousness”. The Trust aims to provide a central repository where these stories can be captured and forever stored. The corresponding physical place will be marked with the official poppy flower of the Returned Serviceman’s Association, which has given the Trust the authority to use the poppy. While a Poppy Place will usually be a street, there may be buildings, walkways, parks, gardens and bridges which are named after people or events from New Zealand’s overseas military history, and will be similarly marked.

“The Places of Remembrance project is about ensuring we never forget. It is about a place where our heroes' contributions and their stories are linked to the physical via the simple placement of a poppy,” says the Trust’s website.  

The Trust hopes that the Places of Remembrance project will encourage local communities to identify locations which have a link to our military involvement in an overseas conflict or military service, and to research and record the history of these places on the poppyplaces.org.nz website. Once approved by local councils, the poppy symbol may then be added to street signs (as in the sample shown) to “forever mark the place/monument with a poppy”.

So far on the North Shore, 12 streets have been verified as “Poppy Places” and are waiting on Auckland Council to erect new signs with the poppy symbol, and/or for the stories of those places to be written. These streets are:

Another 49 North Shore sites are identified by the Places of Remembrance Trust as requiring research to verify the reason for them to be included as a Poppy Place. The list shows some possible omissions – Anzac Street in Takapuna for example; and while Clifton Road in Herne Bay and Clifton Road in Waiake are suggested as having a link to Brigadier George Clifton, there’s as yet no mention of Clifton Road in Takapuna on the Trust’s radar.

Poppy Places project manager Joe Bolton says the Trust welcomes the public’s involvement with the project and suggests people could help by requesting Auckland Council to support the project by assisting with research into the reason for naming streets. “The project is only successful if the Council gives its support,” he says, “because it is the Council that funds the new signs. We have found that once a Council is aware of the project wonderful support has been received.”

“If members of the public are experienced in researching information and can compile stories,” he adds, “they could become involved with the story compilation. There are many examples on our website www.poppyplaces.nz. People can also liaise with their local RSA regarding military history information or email me at info@poppyplaces.nz anytime.”

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In addition to the Places of Remembrance project, the Poppy Places Trust aims to

• promote the education and awareness of New Zealanders about our military history and heritage and the association with place names
• work with local, regional, and central government, the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association, New Zealand Defence Force, heritage genealogy and other organisations or community groups to advance the objectives of the trust
• establish and maintain a central repository of poppy Places as verified by the Trustees
• share the research and records for the benefit of the community and the national heritage of New Zealand.

The New Zealand Poppy Places Trust www.poppyplaces.nz