Citizens ' War Memorial The Citizens ' War Memorial ( alternate : Soldiers ' War Memorial ) in Cathedral Square , Christchurch , is one of the two major memorials in the city to World War I . It is located immediately north of ChristChurch Cathedral . The annual Anzac Day service is held there . It is a Category I heritage structure registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust . Geography . The Citizens ' War Memorial is located in Cathedral Square in Christchurch immediately north of ChristChurch Cathedral . The land on which it is built is owned by the Anglican Church . The heritage tram passes the memorial on the road that goes behind and around the Cathedral . History . George Gould ( 1865 – 1941 ) was a successful businessman , farmer and stock breeder . He was a director of The Press from 1903 until his death with one brief interruption . He chaired the board through the years of the Christchurch newspaper war in 1934 – 1935 . His company , Pyne Gould Corporation Limited , is these days listed on the New Zealand Stock Market . After World War I , many ideas for a war memorial were put forward . Gould proposed a column opposite of ChristChurch Cathedral and by 1920 , this was one of the three dominant proposals . The Bridge of Remembrance was adopted , while the hall of memories idea disappeared due to lack of support . Gould ' s idea received the support of the Canterbury Anglican elite . While the Bridge of Remembrance was unveiled in 1924 , the Christchurch City Council opposed the Cathedral Square proposal and stopped it from going ahead . The argument was that the Cathedral would dwarf the memorial , and that the bustling nature of the Square was an inappropriate setting for a place of reflection . In 1933 , the Godley Statue was relocated from its position just north of the Cathedral to its original location opposite it . Gould seized the opportunity and proposed the vacated site for the memorial , and the Anglican Church as the owner of the land agreed under the condition that a cross be incorporated into the design . Gould promoted the memorial as " an emblem of peace rather than . . . war " . While the original intention was to import statuary from England , the manufacturers ' association wanted the work to be done locally and put Trethewey ' s name forward , but the Returned Services ' Association opposed this as he had not gone to war . The design was to be of peace not war ; a cross should be included , as well as an expression of high ideals . The memorial was designed by the architect George Hart and the Christchurch sculptor William Trethewey ( 1892 – 1956 ) . According to Trethewey ' s son , the sculptor took out a pencil one lunch and sketched a possible war memorial . He took the sketch to Hart and from this , they produced the design . The design was accepted in 1933 , after which Trethewey refined it before carving the figures in clay , boxing them up , and forwarding them for casting to the Arthur Bryan Burton Foundry in London . Trethewey travelled to London and supervised the casting of the bronze figures . The Citizens ' War Memorial ( or Soldiers ' War Memorial ) was unveiled on 9 June 1937 by Colonel S C P Nicholls , with Archbishop Julius conducting the service . It was erected next to the Cathedral on a site which had been occupied by the statue of John Robert Godley , which was moved back to its original location . According to MacLean and Phillips in " The sorrow and the pride : New Zealand war memorials " , it is possible to make ' a good case . . . for it being the finest public monument in the country ' . Each year on Anzac Day , services are held at the memorial with thousands of Cantabrians in attendance . In 2011 , with the Christchurch Central City cordoned off following the earthquake in February , the service was held in Hagley Park instead . Design . The bronze memorial stands in height . The compilation of bronzes were cast in London and are characterised as classicising idealism . The allegorical figures included " Youth " , " Sacrifice " , " Justice " , " Valour " , and " Peace " . They were based on Trethewey ' s family and friends , such as Trethewey ' s daughter Pauline , his workman , Bob Hampton who modelled for " Youth " , as well as the religious figure of Saint George . An engraving at the base of the memorial states : In grateful remembrance of the sons and daughters of Canterbury who fell in the Great War 1914 - 1918 Give peace in our time o Lord . Heritage registration . The memorial is registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I heritage structure . Originally registered in 1984 , its category was changed in 1995 .