The Bombay War Memorial Arch is a small commemorative park at 11/39 Paparata Road in Bombay, Franklin, holding a five-star Google rating in this quiet corner of the Bombay Hills.
War memorial parks do a particular job: they give a district a place to gather, grieve and read the names of local people who served. The arch, with its inscribed roll of honour, is a familiar New Zealand form, and such sites are often the focus of Anzac Day services each April. A short, respectful stop is what they reward — time to read the inscriptions and picture the families behind the names. For travellers on the Auckland–Waikato run, they also make a handy, peaceful leg-stretch away from the traffic.
Set among the market gardens and farmland of the Bombay Hills, this arch is there for just such a pause, a step off Paparata Road.