Unknown NZ soldier buried in France 95 years death

Reverend John Porter lays to rest the remains of the Auckland regiment soldier found near Longueval, France. Photo / NZPA/NZDF

An unknown New Zealand soldier has been buried at a French cemetery 95 years after he died.

In a solemn ceremony yesterday, the soldier's remains were buried at the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery near Longueval, in northern France.

The remains were found beside two Auckland Regiment collar badges by a farmer in December, 2009, near Longueval, a small village in the north eastern Somme in December 2009.

The identity of the soldier could not be established but the Defence Force said because of where he was found, he probably died in the Battle of the Somme in September, 1916.

Yesterday's ceremony was attended by the New Zealand ambassador to France, Rosemary Banks, New Zealand Defence Force personnel including defence attache Brigadier Phil Gibbons, the commanding officer of the Auckland and Northland Battalion Group, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Powell, and the Mayor of Longueval, Jany Fournier.

"The service was a poignant time to reflect on service and sacrifice," said Lt Col Powell.

"After lying in a foreign field for 95 years he is now with his mates, buried with the honour and dignity befitting a warrior."

The Caterpillar Valley Cemetery holds the graves of 125 New Zealand soldiers. It also has a memorial to the 1205 soldiers from the New Zealand Division who died in the Battle of the Somme and whose bodies were never found.

Nearly seven years ago the remains of one New Zealand soldier were removed from the cemetery and laid in the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, at the National War Memorial in Wellington.

The Longueval memorial to New Zealand war casualties is one of seven memorials in France and Belgium to New Zealand soldiers who died on the Western Front and whose graves are not known.

- NZPA