Reeve J.B. Skelton chaired a citizens’ committee with nine members, including several who had lost sons and relatives in the First World War, to discuss a war memorial. In August 1919, Palmerston’s citizens chose a Carrara marble statue of a soldier at ease, standing atop a grey granite base.
The Palmerston Cenotaph was funded by Town Council, delivered by W. J. Welsh and installed on December 15, 1919. It was officially unveiled the following year, along with two German machine guns, which were donated as scrap during the metal drives of the Second World War.
Many names of those who died in the First World War were added to the cenotaph in subsequent years, including the names of eight soldiers who returned home. The reason for these inclusions is not known - over 150 Palmerston residents enlisted, along with many others who had local connections.
Later, inscriptions were added to honour the Second World War and Korean War.
