An old wooden cross measuring 6 in. by 6 in. constructed of totara timber has braved the elements in the Otahuhu Anglican Cemetery for the past seventy-five years. Those who raised the cross followed the precedent at the burial of Sir John Moore, and “carved not a line” to show who was buried beneath the turf.

That cross marks the resting place of Major Walter Vernon Herford, of the 3rd Waikato Militia, whose gallantry at the Siege of Orakau, where he was seriously wounded, has been placed on record by historians of the Maori Wars. Major Herford died three months after the fighting at Orakau, and was buried in the church-yard of Holy Trinity Church, Otahuhu, on 1st July, 1864.