Unknown warrior to come home after 90 years

1.00pm - By IAN STUART

Ninety or so years after he died fighting for his country, a warrior is about to come home.

The unknown warrior, an unidentified soldier from World War 1, will come back to New Zealand more than 60 years after the Returned Services Association began a campaign for its return.

The soldier lies in a French grave with the inscription "A New Zealand soldier of the Great War" and was buried without ever being identified.

He is about to become a national icon, representing men and women who fought and died serving their country overseas.

The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior will be commissioned officially on Armistice Day this year, November 11, the day World War 1 ended in 1918.

The soldier, who will be brought home in a sealed coffin and lowered into the ground in front of the National War Memorial in Wellington on November 11.

The Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, other VIPs and an honour guard were expected to travel to France to bring back the casket.

Brody Stubbs, the manager heritage operations at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, said the War Graves Commission would pay the cost of exhuming the soldier but the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Wellington would cost New Zealand Government nearly $3 million.

The ministry announced earlier this year it had commissioned New Zealand artist and sculptor Kingsley Baird to design the tomb.

The granite and bronze tomb would be inspired by the Southern Cross constellation and possesses a distinctive New Zealand character, said the ministry's chief executive Martin Matthews in May.

New Zealand is one of the last major Commonwealth countries to bring an unknown soldier home for a dedicated tomb.

However, Bill Hopper, from the New Zealand RSA, said the return of the warrior was hugely significant.

"The impact is huge. The unknown soldier in Westminster Abbey back in 1920 was supposed to represent Empire forces."

However, he said that soldier was British and nowhere in New Zealand was there buried an unknown soldier who had fought and died overseas.

"It is a tremendous event. It is something we have tried for many years to get," Mr Hopper said.

- NZPA