SOLDIERS’ GRAVES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4598, 15 August 1923, Page 2

SOLDIERS’ GRAVES.

SEW ZEALAND AND OVERSEAS. WORK CARRIED OUT. The work done in connection witn soldiers’ graves in New Zealand and overseas is reviewed in the annual report of the Department of Internal Affairs, submitted to Parliament last week. The most important work carried out was at Tauranga, where there are approximately one hundred graves of soldiers, the majority of whom fell in the battle at Gate Pa on April 29, 1864. The cemetery was_ levelled, concrete paths were laid, and ar-' rangements made for the proper maintenance of this historical spot. Notifications of additional veterans’ graves in various parts of the Dominion total fifty. Inspections were carried out in conjunction with those of the graves of men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who died since their return from the Great War. The total number of burials recorded at March 31 last, was 2308, and of this number 1807 are deemed to be war graves. At O’Neill’s Point, Auckland, where there are 37 war graves, permanent work consisting of the formation of concrete kerbing and floor and .the erection of universal headstones of Coromandel granite has been completed. Headstones were also placed over war graves at Palmerston North (13) and at Featherston (159), bringing the total erected for the year to 209. Specifications have been prepared for the carrying cut of similar work at Waikaraka (30), Purewa (45), Waikumete (132), and Birkenhead (2). The total number of orders for headstones forwarded to the contractors was 353. By arrangement with the Minister of Defence all clerical work in connection with war graves overseas is being carried out by this, Department on behalf of the Defence Departmem. The work consists of the dispatch of burial reports, photographs of graves, and the distribution of cemetery registers to approximately sixteen thousand next-of-kin,