To serve as a focus of remembrance for the sacrifice made by all New Zealand servicemen and women, the Ministry led the project to repatriate the remains of an unknown warrior for burial in a new tomb at the National War Memorial in Wellington.

The ceremonial programme in November 2004 was probably the largest commemorative programme ever undertaken in New Zealand.

The Unknown Warrior is one of almost 30,000 New Zealanders who perished while serving their country in war, and one of almost 9,000 who have no known grave. A casualty of the First World War, his remains were exhumed from the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery on the Somme in France, a site chosen by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

On 10 November 2004, the New Zealand Defence Force brought the Unknown Warrior home. During a welcoming ceremony at Parliament the Unknown Warrior was honoured with the campaign medals of the two World Wars, the Operational Service Medal, and the Royal New Zealand Returned & Services Association's highest award, the Badge in Gold.

An estimated 10,000 people queued to pay their respects to the Unknown Warrior during the Lying-in-State vigil, which continued through the night at Parliament.

On Armistice Day, 11 November, after a Memorial Service at the Cathedral of St Paul, the Unknown Warrior was accorded a full military funeral procession through Wellington to the final interment ceremony at the National War Memorial. It is estimated that 100,000 people lined the route as the procession passed to a specially composed slow-time march entitled Fernleaf Headstones.

The interment ceremony included a eulogy by the Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright, a reading by Vincent O'Sullivan of his poem, Homecoming - Te Hokinga Mai, and a haunting choral lament of Timothy Hurd's Memento for an Unknown Warrior performed by The Tudor Consort.

The Unknown Warrior was then accorded his final farewells and laid to rest in his new tomb.

The Tomb Design

The tomb was designed by sculptor Kingsley Baird. The design is inspired by the stars of Southern Cross guiding the Warrior home. Black granite and white crosses depict the night sky and the Warrior's companions who fell in battle. Across the top of the granite surround is the text of a karanga (see below), in Māori and English, calling the Warrior home. A cloak of bronze, decorated with pounamu (greenstone) crosses depicting the Southern Cross, rests as a celestial and protective mantle over the tomb.

Words of Karanga

Te mamae nei a te pōuri nui
The great pain we feel
Tēnei ra e te tau
Is for you who were our future
Aue hoki mai ra ki te kainga tūturu
Come back return home,
E tatari atu nei ki a kou tou
We have waited for you
Ngā tau roa
Through the long years
I ngaro atu ai te aroha
You were away. Sorrow
E ngau kino nei I ahau aue taukuri e
Aches within me

The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is New Zealand's foremost symbol of remembrance for all New Zealanders who did not make the journey home and is accessible at all times.

The Man with the Donkey

Another statue located outside the National War Memorial is the Man with the Donkey.  Created by sculptor Paul Walshe, the statue pays tribute to all medical personnel, stretcher bearers and ambulance drivers who served alongside New Zealand troops in wartime.  The statue is based on a photograph of New Zealander Richard Alexander Henderson taken in Gallipoli, where donkeys were the only animals available to transport the injured to safety. Henderson continued the work of Australian stretcher bearer John “Jack” Simpson Kirkpatrick who was killed in May 1915 using one of Simpson’s donkeys, named Murphy.  The sculpture was modelled on a photograph taken by Sergeant James Gardiner (Jas) Jackson. It was commissioned by the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association and was unveiled by Ross Henderson, son of Richard Alexander Henderson in 1990.

Ceremonial booklet

Download the booklet published for the 11 November 2004 ceremony. It is available only as a pdf document.

Sound files

These sound files are made available here as high quality mp3 files. Please contact us for permission for any reuse of these files.

Fernleaf Headstones by Dwayne Bloomfield (3.4mbs)

S/Sgt Dwayne Bloomfield, Deputy Bandmaster and composer-in-residence for the New Zealand Army Band, was commissioned to write a special funeral march for the Funeral Procession. Entitled Fernleaf Headstones, this march was performed by the New Zealand Army Band as the Funeral Procession for the Unknown Warrior moved from the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul to the National War Memorial.

Homecoming - Te Hokinga Mai by Vincent O'Sullivan (1.8mbs)

Vincent O'Sullivan, one of New Zealand's leading poets and writers, was commissioned to write a special poem in honour of the Unknown Warrior. The poem entitled Homecoming – Te Hokinga Mai was read at the Interment Ceremony. Read the words for Homecoming.

Memento for an Unknown Warrior by Timothy Hurd QSM (3.9mbs)

Memento for an Unknown Warrior, sung by The Tudor Consort, is a setting of the Maori and English words of the karanga inscribed on the granite surround of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. It begins with a forceful exortation with written-in echo effects, making full use of the marvellous acoustics of the Hall of Memories. The two solo sopranos [and languages] then echo and compliment each other, over a slowly shifting modal underlay in the other voice parts. The composition ends softly on an open fifth [in dominant key], signalling an implied return to the beginning which, like remembrance itself, continually begins anew.

A Simple Elegy by Timothy Hurd QSM (7mbs)

'A Simple Elegy' for carillon was played on 11 November 2004 to close the formal Entombment Ceremony at the National War Memorial, Wellington. In distinct contrast to other music heard on the day, A Simple Elegy is comprised of three interwoven melodies and uses asymmetric time signatures [principally 5/2], as evocative of the slow, unsynchronised walking cadence of a cortege of mourners.

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