Work Of Casualty Section Is Carried On

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 4, 4 October 1950, Page 5

Work Of Casualty Section Is Carried On

Although five years have passed since the end of World War II the work of the War Casualty section at Air Force Headquarters is still being carried on. It is likely to be for a long time yet. By various means, official and otherwise war graves in many parts of the world are kept under continual observation.

In many far-off lands New Zealanders who were killed on the field of battle have been laid to rest. Their graves are cared for with everlasting devotion by people of many different nationalities. One illustration of this affection is shown in the case of three New Zealand airmen who were lost in 1944 while their Stirling was engaged in mine-laying operations over the North Sea. The bodies of the crew, Pilot Officer M. Lammas, Nelson; Flight Sergeant D. W. Vaughan, Wanganui; and Flight Sergeant R. Bailey, Auckland, were later found and buried in a small war cemetery in Denmark. A little market town, Aabeuraa, in Southern Jutland, is the location of the cemetery, and besides New Zealanders buried there are other airmen from Australia, Canada, England and America. Two Danish nurses working in a nearby hospital have “adopted” the cemetery and with other Danish folk they tend the graves. A letter was received recently by Air Force headquarters containing photographs and a general description of the cemetery. The nurses since then have kept the war casualty section continually informed on the stace of the graves. Their work has earned official recognition by the Danish legation in Wellington.