WAR GRAVES

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 93, 14 January 1926, Page 6

WAR GRAVES

WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT

CREDITABLE RECORD

EXPENDITURE TO DATE

Some illuminating facts as to what the Government has done, and is still doing, towards the care of soldiers’ graves, were given by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. R. F. Bollard) during the unveiling of the Opawa Maori war memorial at Hawera yesterday. It was stated that the total expenditure to date was in the neighbourhood of £140,000. (From Our Special Reporter. ) Hawera, January 13. "The care of soldiers’ graves,” said Mr. Bollard, “is one of the many things that stand to the credit of our Administration ; and the Government is keen to see that the resting places of those who have so materially helped to uphold the traditions which the British Empire represents, are not forgotten.’’ (Applause.) As evidence of the Government’s sincerity he mentioned that to-day New Zealand’s annual expenditure on the war graves abroad and those in New Zealand was approximately £40,000, and the total expenditure to date was in the neighbourhood of £140,000. The care of the graves of men who fell in the Maori War, the. Boer War, and the Great War had been entrusted to the war graves division of the Department of External Affairs, in addition to which graves of alt soldiers of overseas forces dying in the Dominion, and of notable personages, were also “adopted.” Annual grants for maintenance were made to controlling authorities of cemeteries as required. Although the branch was established in 1921, it was not until recently that it was possible to make progress with the work required. During the past two years, work had been completed or contracts arranged, in the following cemeteries and churchyards, these relating to Maori and Boer War graves only—Auckland district: Pokeno cemeterv, Rangiriri cemetery, Lower Mauku ’cemetery, St. Mary’s Churchyard (Auckland), Drury cemetery, Tuakau cemetery, Te Awamutu cemetery, Symonds Street cemetery, Whakatane cemeterv. Hawke’s Bay district: Gisborne old cemetery, Onetopoto (Lake Waikaremoanu), Marumaru (near Wairoa). Taranaki district: St. Mary’s churchyard. New Plymouth. Bay of Plenty district: Tauranga old military cemetery, Opotiki old military cemetery. Wellington district: Boulcott’s farm (Lower Hutt), Karori. Canterbury district: Akaroa. North Auckland district : Russell churchyard. The total cost of the work was approximately £2500.

“Adopted” Graves. “The Government has ‘adopted’ the graves of all those men whose deaths are considered to have been due to disabilities arising from their service in the Great War,” proceeded the Minister. “On such graves, permanent work, including the erection of military headstones, is being carried out as quickly as possible, but as the contractors entrusted with the supply of the headstones have experienced difficulty in obtaining raw material; there has been a regrettable delay during the past eighteen months. It is hoped that in the near future the position will be much improved. Up to the present time 911 headstones have been erected over war graves in the various parts of the Dominion. The total number of war graves to date is 2097, thus leaving 1186 graves yet to be dealt witii. Graves Abroad. “The Government has also undertaken to carry out permanent work and maintain the' graves in perpetuity of her soldiers who died abroad while serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War. I his work has been entrusted to the Imperial War Graves Commission, and up to the present time the graves in Egvpt, Palestine, Gallipoli, Aegean Islands, Malta, Gibraltar, and the United Kingdom have been completed. Each grave' bears a headstone of the same design as that being placed over the war graves in New Zealand. In addition to this, some 1500 graves have been completed in France and Belgium. The total number of New Zealanders’ graves completed in the countries mentioned is approximately 5500.’’ In conclusion the Minister paid a tribute to the work of the officers of the war graves division of his Department.