WWI veteran finally remembered after half a century

Marton RSA's Barry Rankin helped tracked down the grave of Leonard Hardcastle at Mt View Cemetery earlier this year. Photo/ Stuart Munro

Leonard Hardcastle's name now marks his grave.

But the battle to identify other unmarked plots around him will go on.

Mr Hardcastle, who served in World War I, is buried in Mt View Cemetery near Marton in a grave that was unmarked for more than half a century.

But Veterans' Affairs have helped fund the bronze plaque which was put on his grave last month.

Mr Hardcastle's niece Carol McGregor was involved in getting the plaque put on the grave, and said there were others she wanted to help put names to.

Mr Hardcastle returned from war with post-traumatic stress and Mrs McGregor remembers him living with her and her mother in the late 1940s before he eventually ended up in Lake Alice in Rangitikei where he died in 1960.

Marton RSA's Barry Rankin, who tracked down the Mr Hardcastle's grave using old council records and maps, said earlier this year there were others buried in unmarked graves with little or no information about them.

Lake Alice was a maximum security psychiatric facility which closed in 1999.

Photo/Bevan Conley

There were accusations of mistreatment of patients in the facility and in 2006 the

New Zealand Herald

reported the Government had apologised to 183 former patients and paid them $10.7 million compensation.

Mrs McGregor said she was pleased her uncle now had a grave with a name and was grateful for the work Mr Rankin had done in tracking down her uncle and Veterans' Affairs for the funding.

"But there's others there and I just want to find the history."