Tauranga veterans join Remembrance Army ahead of Poppy Day

Malayan Emergency veteran Dick Frew, 83, grins as he watches Tauranga Returned and Services Association member Russell Williams sweep moss and debris from memorial plaques in the section of the Pyes Pa cemetery set aside for service men and women.

"Russell was an officer in the Territorials. I was a private. Officers don't do any manual labour, you see, so I am just going to stand here and watch him work."

Frew, a life member of the RSA, did not stay watching for long, mucking in to help with the sweeping and moss spraying in spite of a recent back injury.

He said the work to clear the memorials was a way to honour and respect those who had served.

The pair are part of the New Zealand Remembrance Army, a nationwide movement led by the RSA that aims to clean and restore every military grave by the end of 2020.

The army started with one former soldier cleaning a grave in Porirua, and has spread via social media into an international movement.

Williams said most memorials in Tauranga were in good condition, but some that were in the shade of trees, or that no longer had family in the area to care for them, needed attention.

Those would be the focus of the army's effort, he said. Families should continue to care for their own relatives' memorials as usual.

Tauranga RSA members Russell Williams and Dick Frew have joined the national Remembrance Army. Photo / George Novak

The pair have started their work this week as an act of remembrance in the lead-up to Poppy Day this Friday.

Poppy Day, usually held the Friday before Anzac Day, is a week earlier than usual this year to avoid a clash with Easter Friday.

Around 200 volunteers will take to the streets selling poppy pins to raise money for veterans and their families.

Among them will be Frew, who has been a collector since the 1990s, and in Tauranga since 2003.

He will be stationed at Pak'n Save in Tauranga all day. He said he always enjoyed it when children came to drop a 10c piece in the bucket, but fewer and fewer people carried cash these days.

Tauranga RSA members Russell Williams and Dick Frew have joined the national Remembrance Army. Photo / George Novak

Frew said the money donated went towards support for veterans and their dependents.

Recent projects supported included putting ramps in the homes of two veterans and buying a supportive bed for a woman with back issues. Help to pay for hearing aids and eye operations was also common.

He said the funds were increasingly urgently needed, and the money collected in Tauranga would stay in Tauranga.