Remembering the dead - Passchendaele
During and after the First World War, New Zealanders on the battlefields and at home reflected on their country’s role in the conflict with a mixture of sadness and pride. The huge losses in Belgium left deep scars and forged an enduring bond between the two countries. War cemeteries in Belgium and hundreds of memorials back in New Zealand serve as permanent reminders of the terrible toll of 1917.
Dealing with death
Fatalities - Anzac Day
New Zealand's Anzac dead, 25 April 1915
The New Zealanders began to land on the beaches at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli from about 9 a.m. on 25 April. At the end of the day, more than 100 had died.
Tyne Cot Cemetery
Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery on the Western Front. It also contains the graves of more New Zealanders than any other cemetery beyond our shores. Tyne Cot occupies part of the strategic high ground from which the Germans looked down across the Allied forces and is a historic site from the Battle of Passchendaele.
Creative Commons License Type:
-None-
Credit:
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
New Zealand war graves
New Zealand headstones to unknown soldiers in Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, France.
New Zealand Defence Force
Soldier's grave in South Africa
Gunner C. W. Smith of the Third Contingent died in January 1901, aged 22 years. He was buried at a cemetery in Mafeking, and his grave was photographed by John McGrath of the Rough Riders.
Creative Commons License Type:
-None-
Credit:
Marie Moore
Known unto God
Unknown warriors
The Unknown New Zealand Warrior interred at the National War Memorial in Wellington lost his life in France some time between April 1916 and November 1918.
One of the countless victims of the 'war to end all wars', he died on the Western Front, a vast arena of misery and suffering in which New Zealanders were slaughtered in unprecedented numbers. We will never know the circumstances of his death. Did he fall advancing towards the enemy after going over the top in one of the periodic big pushes or in the darkness and confusion of a minor trench raid? Did some random shell burst instantly snuff out his life or did he lie in agony for hours, even days, before his shattered body gave up the struggle to survive?
Other Ministry Websites
