On 26 November 1959, Burnside Road was renamed to Memorial Avenue in the memory of all the air service personnel that died in World War II.
Burnside Road had been a troublesome project for the C.C.C during the early 1950′s. Nothing much more than a dirt trail that, at times, actually passed through farm land, something had to be done! It was after all the main road into Christchurch from the airport and it was beginning to be a little embarrassing!
So Memorial Avenue was born. The road was widened and developed as a memorial to all the air service personnel that died in World War II. Seeing that they would have been trained at the airfields of Christchurch Airport, it was fitting that the main road from there would always be in their memory.
*image courtesy of Annette Bulovic*
