New Zealand Remembrance Army managing director Simon Strombom repaints a white cross on a veteran's gravestone.
Northlanders are being called to join a growing army of remembrance volunteers restoring the grave sites of military service people.
The New Zealand Remembrance Army (NZRA) researches military service people’s contributions, marks and restores their graves, and works with iwi to identify urupā where service people were buried and which often have limited formal records. It also restores and updates war memorials.
Afghanistan veteran and NZRA managing director Simon Strombom, MNZM, DSD, ED, said while NZRA had done some work in Northland, it was keen to do more, for which local volunteers were needed.
A previous project in Northland took volunteers to Motukaraka, on the edge of the Hokianga Harbour, where three urupā hold the graves of men who served in World Wars I and II.
Invited by the local marae, the NZRA helped preserve service graves – many of them linked to the 28th Māori Battalion – and trained new volunteers in restoration techniques.
The project also uncovered long-overlooked medal entitlements and assisted families to advocate for recognition.
Strombom said the NZRA, since forming in 2018, had restored more than 250,000 graves of an estimated 400,000 service people’s graves nationwide.
The NZRA had also installed ceramic poppies on about 22,000 graves to permanently mark service.
Strombom said volunteers did not need military connections.
“The best people are those close to a cemetery – they turn up, clean the graves, we’ll sponsor everything.”
Research roles were available for those unable to work on-site.
The volunteer work had not been without its challenges, which are detailed in Strombom’s newly released book Echoes in Stone: Honouring the Fallen Through Restoration. A portion of the proceeds will go towards ongoing restoration projects.
Strombom hoped the read would spark fresh interest in Northland, especially before the 80th anniversary of the 28th Māori Battalion’s return next January – a milestone he said deserved recognition.
Strombom said the need for remembrance was underscored by how past generations of service people were treated.
After the great wars, many soldiers – even the famous fighters of the Māori Battalion – returned home without fanfare or official thanks. They simply dispersed back into civilian life and with no support offered to them for trauma or reintegration.
Strombom said the disconnect between public commemorations and the actual condition of many service people’s graves is stark.
“All these people stand on Anzac Day and say, ‘Lest we forget’, but they’ve clearly forgotten because I can pull them to a local cemetery and show you a completely overgrown grave.”
Veterans make up a far smaller share of the population today – about one in 160 New Zealanders compared with one in 12 during the world wars.
Strombom has called on councils nationwide and the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association (RNZRSA) to do more to honour those who have served.
Local authorities had been approached about updating memorials in their care. Strombom said many around the country only list campaigns up to World War II.
He criticised some councils for prioritising other projects such as public art, which he viewed as trivial in comparison, before the relatively inexpensive task of updating war memorials.
Strombom believed disparities in government funding must also be addressed.
The RNZRSA receives $250,000 annually, but the NZRA operates on just $70,000 while delivering 25,000 grave restorations and 25 other major projects nationwide.
He wanted government funds to be made contestable so that all veteran groups could compete on business cases.
The RNZRSA supports the Remembrance Army’s efforts but said its role was different.
Chief executive Evan Williams said the RSA is primarily a veteran support charity, focused on welfare, advocacy and organising commemorations such as Anzac Day.
While many RSA members volunteer with the NZRA, the RSA does not restore graves or centrally fund memorial updates, though RSAs often work with councils.
Williams highlighted the RSA’s role this year in creating Veterans’ Day and said remembrance should also call for better support for living veterans.
Not all veterans are elderly – more than 12,000 New Zealanders have served on military operations in the past 30 years.
Northlanders interested in being involved with the NZRA can get in touch through its Facebook page.
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, most of which she spent court reporting in Gisborne and on the East Coast.