Archive to honour war dead

Derrick Bunn aims to photograph every headstone and memorial. Photo / Martin Sykes

The cast-iron headstone of Robert McKeich lies partly encased in concrete in a bone-dry cemetery.

For a brave New Zealand soldier, it seems regretful that his resting place is marred by two grievous mistakes: his surname is misspelled, and the date that he was killed is wrong.

McKeich, from Lawrence in Central Otago, volunteered to join hundreds of New Zealanders fighting with Britain in the Boer War, halfway round the world in South Africa. His son Walter also signed up.

Part of the 9th Contingent, Robert McKeich sailed from New Zealand in March 1902, arriving in South Africa after six weeks at sea, too late to see much action. Facing a desperate situation, the Boers signed a peace treaty on May 31, 1902, with General Herbert Kitchener - later the face of the "Lord Kitchener wants you" World War I recruiting posters.

Four days after terms were settled, McKeich and a companion went hunting springbok. Out on the high veld they encountered three Boer soldiers, still unaware the war was over.

In a gunfight, two Boers were killed, but the third, though wounded, fatally shot Lieutenant McKeich. The Otago butcher became the last New Zealander to die in the Anglo-Boer war, the first overseas conflict to involve New Zealand troops. McKeich is among the 205 New Zealanders from the armed services buried in South Africa, and whose war graves and memorials will eventually become part of an ambitious project to create a digital archive of all 30,321 New Zealand war graves in 63 countries.

When complete, the archive will contain 90,000 images, freely accessible through a website.

Photographer Derrick Bunn is secretary of the NZ War Graves Trust. He spent five weeks in South Africa and found McKeich's half-buried metal headstone in Vereeniging, where the treaty ending the Boer War was signed.

At least McKeich's memorial was still there: others have been stolen for scrap. Misspellings are not uncommon, says Bunn. Masons who chipped out names of the fallen on stone often did not speak English.
Bunn has war grave images from the Pacific, China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa and Australia. Images from these countries make up about 15 per cent of the nation's war dead. The big task ahead is across Europe and the Middle East: in France alone, 7776 war graves mark the fate of New Zealanders killed during a century of conflict. For that the trust needs to raise more money. Bunn thinks $1 million could cover the task.

Among the headstones in the archive is that of Private Walter Allan Pelvin, the only New Zealand soldier killed in action at home. A carpenter, Pelvin was a guard at the Featherston prisoner of war camp when 250 Japanese POWs staged a protest in February 1943. Failing to settle a standoff, the camp adjutant fired a shot to end the siege.

Chaos followed a second shot which hit a POW. When the smoke cleared, 31 prisoners were left dead; 17 died from injuries. Pelvin, one of seven soldiers injured in the crossfire, died three days later. He was buried in Geraldine with full military honours.

Bunn's mission has taken him to some obscure locations. On Labuan, an island off the coast of Borneo, he found a memorial for Major Don Stott, of Birkenhead, a legendary World War II special operations soldier. Stott pole-vaulted to freedom from a POW camp in Greece, joined a guerrilla band which blew up strategic targets and opened clandestine talks with the Germans.

His luck ran out with "Z" Special Unit, an Australian outfit trained to cause havoc behind Japanese lines. In March 1945, just days after his wife Mary had given birth to their son, Stott led a 12-man team to operate in Borneo. He vanished with his second-in-command as they paddled ashore from a submarine. Stott was never sighted again - all that remains is his Labuan war memorial.

THE WAR GRAVES PROJECT

* There are 30,321 New Zealand war graves and memorials in 63 countries. Most are in Europe, the Middle East and around New Zealand, but they can be found in such remote places as the Faroe Islands and Mozambique.

* The graves are for men and women from the armed services who died in conflicts from the 1899 Anglo-Boer War to East Timor peacekeeping duties.

* The NZ War Graves Trust is behind the project to photograph each headstone and memorial and make all available online. Go to www.nzwargraves.com

* The War Graves Trust is exhibiting a selection of photographs from its project next week.

* Where: Ranfurly Veterans Home and Hospital, 539 Mt Albert Rd, Three Kings

* When: April 21 - 28

* The Auckland War Memorial Museum's offical Book of Remembrance can be read online. It alllows people to send their messages and memories of loved ones who have served in past wars or to people currently serving in the armed forces.