Waipawa Cemetery gets Remembrance Army spruce-up

Matt and Jason Lee making sure memorial plaques at the Waipawa Cemetery were smart and tidy for Anzac Day.

The graves and memorials of veterans and servicemen and women at the Waipawa Cemetery had a scrub and a spruce-up ahead of Anzac Day, courtesy of the New Zealand Remembrance Army.

Ex-New Zealand Army Infantry Officer Jason Lee is the local representative of the voluntary service, a nationwide charitable trust set up to help conserve military war graves and memorials.

Jason's own grandparents and great-grandparents are represented in the memorials at the Waipawa Cemetery, his motivation for the call to action on the Saturday of Anzac weekend.

A post on Facebook drew a steady stream of helpers armed with brooms, buckets and scrubbing brushes, while Jason's son Matt was first tasked with cleaning the plaque that holds the name of his great-grandfather Frederick Wilson Lee, who was awarded the Military Medal for his service as a gunner in WWII.

Matt Lee gives an extra shine to the plaque belonging to his great grandfather Frederick Wilson Lee.

Fred Lee was twice wounded as he pushed through mortar fire to get his gun into position, after which he pushed on to rescue other wounded and get them to an aid station before declining treatment in order to rejoin his unit.

Over the weekend Jason was able to restore quite a few of the headstones and plaques, scrubbing, removing moss, retouching lettering and adding the Anzac Poppy.

"There are quite a few servicemen and women buried in the cemetery who aren't in the services area ... we try to find them as well and make sure they are taken care of. The office of the Remembrance Army in Wellington does a lot of research to find graves that may not be marked as returned services, and they let us know where to locate them.

"There's no reason to confine this work to Anzac Day ... while it's important to make the old soldiers proud on their special day, there is noting to stop families making a trip to the cemetery for some quiet reflection and to share some history.

"I would encourage people to do whatever they feel is right."

A further restoration weekend is planned for Queen's Birthday weekend.

Visit the NZ Remembrance Army Facebook page to find out more.