A volunteer group which maintains the graves of military veterans is calling for the establishment of a government-funded body to do the work.
Members of the New Plymouth Boys' High School 1st and 2nd cricket XI work on some of the war graves in Te Henui cemetery New Plymouth. Photo: Supplied / Remembrance Army
The graves of veterans buried in service sections of public cemeteries are maintained by Veterans' Affairs and those who died on active service are looked after by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission through the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.
But about another 155,000 veterans buried in cemeteries or family plots are not covered.
Remembrance Army founder and chief executive Simon Strombom said a New Zealand War Graves Commission would fill the gap and maintain graves to an appropriate standard.
''Generally, they are in public sections and family graves but just to keep them to a standard. Just to keep the respect and it should be any graves in New Zealand at one standard. Not the standard dictated by councils. There should be one standard that the grave is readable, is maintained, and it's free of moss.''
He said there needs to be bipartisan support in Parliament for the idea.
''I think it is positive, I think most people see the need for it. I just hope some priority is given to it.''
Simon Strombom Photo: Supplied
Strombom said he gets annoyed at this time of year.
''People say, 'lest we forget', and the reality is they are just going through the motions. They are not actually really reflecting that in their actions."
The Remembrance Army was founded three years ago and in that time 60 teams of 3500 volunteers across the country have restored about 40,000 graves of veterans.
Strombom estimates that another 150,000 still need to be restored to their original condition.
'Fascinating stories' uncovered
He said restoring graves is not the only work the Remembrance Army does.
''Where it has really gone strong is we tell the people's stories and that has become more critical going forward. We research the stories behind these people who are basically very ordinary New Zealanders and we tell their stories again.''
This is mainly done on Facebook.
''If we find a grave that hasn't been touched for 100 years we will clean it up and then a lot of the time we will actually go and look at the service records and write up just what the guy did and really who he was.
''We find some fascinating stories, it is like a Boy's Own [a UK weekly newspaper for boys] adventure sometimes.
"We have found SOE (Special Operations Executive) agents from France, we have found guys who were on the crest of Chunik Bair who saw the Turks coming. We've got guys who were in the navy who got gallantry awards. Airmen with DFCs who were in the Battle of Britain. We find a multitude of stories all over NZ.
''Without this they would be just quietly forgotten.''
Many stories about the war veterans' lives are being revealed as part of the clean-up. Photo: Supplied / Remembrance Army
Strombom recalls one tragic story that still resonates with him.
''The guy went to Gallipoli, came through and was a sergeant and came right through the war and was killed in the last week of the war. He has the Military Medal and if we hadn't got to that grave and found it and done it up, we would never know that story.''
Strombom said the work of the army is not always plain sailing as some councils are difficult to deal with.
''We struggle in some places as some councils want us to get consent from the families. Tracking them down is very difficult and we find about one in 20.
''We can clean a grave up in about 20 minutes, 100 in an afternoon, but to get 100 graves' permission would take thousands of hours of work.''
Photo: Supplied / Remembrance Army
He said some councils are very pragmatic but others are too process-driven.
''The bigger the council the more problems we have. You would think councils would welcome us with open arms.''
Funding for the work of the Remembrance Army comes from sponsorship, some assistance from the RSA and a Give-a-little page.
