War Graves and Monuments
New Zealand and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
NZ soldier's headstone.
New Zealand is a member of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The Commission is responsible for commemorating members of the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth who died during the World Wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45 and for the care of their graves throughout the world.
New Zealand is one of six Commonwealth or former Commonwealth countries which participate in the work of the Commission, the others being the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, South Africa and India.
The New Zealand High Commissioner in London is customarily appointed by the New Zealand Government to be its representative on the Commission and he/she either attends, or is represented at, quarterly Commission meetings. New Zealand is also represented on the Commission's Committees, including the Finance Committee and on a number of the Commission's international committees.
The cost of the Commission's work throughout the world is met by the participating countries in proportion to the number of their war graves in the Commission's care, the New Zealand contribution being 2.14%.
Location of Graves and Memorials
The graves and memorials of all Commonwealth service personnel who died during the two world wars can be traced on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website (www.cwgc.org). The Heritage Operations unit also holds a complete set of cemetery and memorial registers and can provide copies of grave or memorial location information from these registers or from the CWGC website. In most cases, area maps and cemetery plans (which are as yet unavailable on the CWGC website) can also be obtained by contacting the Unit.
The War Dead of New Zealand
The total number of New Zealand war dead of the two world wars commemorated throughout the world by the Commission is:
- 1914-1918 War: 18,042
- 1939-1945 War: 11,925
- Total: 29,967
The countries in which the largest number of New Zealand war dead are commemorated are France (7,778), Belgium (4,711) and Turkey (2,358) mainly from the 1914-1918 War, and Egypt (2,924), Greece (1,148), Italy (2,157) and New Caledonia (515) from the 1939-1945 War.
War Graves in New Zealand
New Zealand casualties of the two World Wars commemorated in New Zealand number 3,478 in a total of 433 sites throughout the country. This figure includes 570 casualties of both World Wars with no known grave who are commemorated on the Auckland Memorial in Devonport and on provincial memorials in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington.
War grave headstones at Taita
Cemetery, Lower Hutt
The war graves and memorials in New Zealand are cared for by, and at the expense of, the New Zealand Government through the Heritage Operations unit. Most of the casualties buried in New Zealand died while on garrison or training duties or in hospitals.
Heritage Operations also cares for Commonwealth graves and memorials to the missing in New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and the Society Islands.
For more information contact:
Heritage Operations Unit
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
PO Box 5364
Wellington
Telephone (04) 499-4229
Fax (04) 499-4490
Email: info@mch.govt.nz
