Unknown warrior finally on way home

New Zealand's "unknown warrior" has begun his journey of more than 19,000km home from the WWI battlefield in northern France where he fought and died.

He is under the guard of a 90-strong New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) contingent, which on Saturday took charge of his remains for all New Zealanders at a ceremony near Longueval.

On arriving in New Zealand on November 10, the warrior will be taken to Parliament in Wellington where he will lie in state before being interred on November 11, Remembrance Day.

The total journey from Lille to Wellington is 19,315km, a journey that would have taken at least seven weeks by ship during WWI.

The warrior's remains were formally handed to the NZDF at the New Zealand Division's memorial, near Longueval, on the former Somme battlefield.

About 200 residents from Longueval, nearby Flers, and more than 20 expatriate New Zealanders turned out for the ceremony.

For the first time in three days the sun shone over the battlefield, and continued shining for the duration of the ceremony.

The ceremony itself took in elements of Maori and Pakeha cultures.

Maori warriors armed with taiaha welcomed the warrior's flag-draped casket, carried by six French soldiers, onto the memorial area.

Karakia and karanga were called while, later, the shrill bugle notes of "the Last Post" carried across the recently-ploughed fields, which, even 88 years after the war, yield rusted shells and bayonets.

A lone bagpiper played a lament as the silent crowd looked on. Several were moved to tears.

It was a sombre occasion, yet also poignant, for the sound of New Zealand and French honour guards clicking bayonets onto rifles had been heard at this place when the New Zealand Division fought there in 1916.

Returned Services Association president John Campbell read The Ode, and later said he was encouraged to see so many young people, French and New Zealanders there.

"There were certain moments that caught me," Mr Campbell said after the ceremony.

"Of course I not only had strong emotions, but also pride. I wondered what they (New Zealand soldiers who died nearby) would have thought of us being here today," he said.

On these fields the New Zealand Division founded its reputation as one of the finest on the Western Front, but that came at a price. There were more than 7000 casualties, including 1560 dead, of whom 1272 have no known grave.

Some 30,000 New Zealand men and women have died in military conflicts since 1899, and 9000 lie in unmarked graves. It is for them and the sacrifices of the nation that the warrior is being returned.

NZDF principal chaplain Julian Wagg accepted on behalf of the Army, Navy and Air Force the responsibility for bringing the warrior home.

He also thanked the 350 Longueval residents and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for looking after the warrior's remains since his death in September or October 1916.

The NZDF's kaumatua, Bert McLean, said the handover of the remains was culturally important to both Maori and Pakeha.

"I can say to Maori people that our protocol has been appropriately applied and we have maintained the mana of the warrior throughout the process," Mr McLean said.

"This is significant to both Maori and Pakeha, and now we can bring the warrior home to New Zealand to rest in peace."

- NZPA