ON GALLIPOLI.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12761, 3 October 1919, Page 3

ON GALLIPOLI.

WtyRK OF LOCATING GRATES.

IT* o ** Ocn Couisxromnn.] WELLINGTON, October 2. Since the conclusion of the Gallipoli campaign, the military authorities have been collecting all available information concerning the burial of New Zealanders on the Peninsula. After the armistice, a special party from the Canterbury Mounted Rifles visited Gallipoli for the purpose of locating graves, and ensuring the permanence of identification mark'.'. Care was taken to locate the bi rial spots by exact markings, and the taking of bearings- The result of this visit was communicated to the Imperial Graves Uominissiou, ■ and to the New. Zealand authorities. Now that all the official data has been got together, it is evident that so far as the identification of individual graves is concerned, there is unfortunately a big void to fill in the records. A cable message was recently received from the New Zealand Records Office in Egypt, stating that mam? graves which have been located on Gallipoli are known to contain the bodies of New Zealanders, bnt their names cannot be ; scertained. It is believed that some of these graves could be identified from information in the possession of soldiers and next of kin m New Zealand. Consequently, the Officer in Char ge of Base Records, Wellington, is endeavouring to collect any tacts or photographs which can be given to him .1 New Zealand regarding the burying places of individuals, as this will iii many cases enable the grave to.b i definitely marked. No matter how meagre, information of this kind will be welcomed, and will be forwarded to th© Graves Registration Unit m Egypt for action to be taken. Next of km who Know where a soldier relative has been buried should send this information to Base Records and soldiers who remember where friends were buried- should follow the same course, as. they will thus be able to affoid to many people in New Zealand the consolation of knowing that the grave of one who fell in that campaign will be appropriately marked, and preserved for all time as a memorial of the sacrifice made.