To commemorate the centenary of World War I, we have developed an online timeline featuring excerpts from the official minute books of those local authorities in existence in the Auckland region at that time.  The timeline has been added to for each year of the commemorations and has now been updated to include information from 1918.  The final updates for 1919 will be made next year.

Throughout 1918, there was much mention in the minute books of how to commemorate the services rendered to the Empire by the late Lieutenant Commander William Edward Sanders.  Sanders was a Takapuna resident who served in the Royal Naval Reserve. He served in submarine-decoy vessels, known as Q-Ships. He was in command of the ship Prize and, in April 1917, successfully sank a German U-boat while under heavy fire. Sanders was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action. In August 1917, a U-boat torpedoed the Prize, and all hands were lost.

In May 1918, the Mayor of Takapuna wrote to the mayors of the Auckland region suggesting a meeting be called to further the movement to perpetuate the fame of Lieutenant Commander Sanders. The Mayor of Auckland convened a public meeting to discuss the matter. The recommendation from the meeting was that the Sanders Memorial take the form of a suitable statue or obelisk and that a 'Sanders Memorial' scholarship be established, which would be open to New Zealand boys wishing to join the merchant service.

From October to December 1918, another prominent theme emerged in the minute books - the Spanish influenza epidemic.  Several of the public council meetings were cancelled as a result, and peace celebrations, following the news of the armistice, were delayed.