Skip to main content
  • Home
  • The War Graves Project
  • Contact Us
  • Sign In
Home
  • Casualties
  • Cemeteries
  • FAQ
  • News
  • Map
  1. Home

Wednesday 10th May 1944

Aubergenville Communal Cemetery

(1 casualty)

Aubergenville is a village 12 kilometres east-south-east of Mantes, on the Mantes - Paris road. The cemetery is north of the village on the road leading to the bridge across the River Seine.

View Casualties
    John Milford Aitken
    (Pilot Officer)
    Service Number:

Auckland (Waikumete) Cemetery

(1 casualty)

Auckland (Waikumete) Cemetery is situated at the junction of Great North Road and Glenview Road, Glen Eden, on the western outskirts of Auckland. At the entrance to the cemetery is the Auckland Provincial Memorial which commemorates 56 servicepeople from the province who lost their lives in and around New Zealand during the two World Wars and who have no known grave.

View Casualties
    John Archibald Penman
    (Able Seaman)
    Service Number:

Bourail Memorial

(5 casualties)

Bourail is on the western coast of the island of New Caledonia, which lies approximately 1600 kilometres north of New Zealand. The Bourail Memorial is situated in Bourail New Zealand War Cemetery, which lies about 9 kilometres south-east of Bourail, on the main road north and east of the Nera River, which flows into Bourail Bay. The entrance to the cemetery is on the south-western side and leads, through a terrace adjoing the Records building, to the wide central avenue which curves between two double rows of graves to the Cross of Sacrifice erected on a raised circular platform at the northern end. The Memorial stands behind the Cross of Sacrifice and commemorates members of the New Zealand Land and Air Forces and Merchant Navy, and members of the Western Pacific Local Forces who died during operations in the South Pacific area, and who have no known grave. The men of the Fiji Military Forces who died in this campaign and whose graves could not be located or maintained, are commemorated on the Suva Memorial at Fiji. The Memorial consists of a curved screen wall with pierced wing walls of brick. The names are recorded on 12 bronze panels affixed to the main wall; the first nine bear the names of New Zealanders, and the remaining three those of men of the Western Pacific Local Forces. Above the panels is the following inscription: 1939 - 1945 THESE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE NEW ZEALAND ARMY, THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND AIR FORCE AND THE WESTERN PACIFIC LOCAL FORCES SERVED AND DIED IN THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC ON LAND AND AT SEA.

========

COASTWATCHERS - BOURAIL MEMORIAL New Caledonia
From 1941 until the end of the Second World War New Zealand Coastwatchers reported on enemy shipping, aircraft and troop movements from Campbell and Auckland Islands in the south to the Gilbert (Kiribati) and Ellice (Tuvalu) Groups in the north.
Although the coast watching service was primarily the responsibility of the Navy, the majority of those who were actively involved were servicemen from the Army and radio operators, who were civilians, from the NZ Post and Telegraph Department.  Coastwatchers endured the cold in the south and the heat in the north, as well as the isolation, intermittent supplies and risk of illness. Those Coastwatchers who became too ill to administer to themselves radioed in their symptoms and in return received suggestions for further treatment. In addition there was the danger of enemy capture or of natural disaster. In February 1942 a hurricane struck Suvarov Island in the southern Cook Islands and the three New Zealand Coastwatchers there survived the tidal waves which swamped the island, highest point 14 feet above sea level, only by climbing a tree. Some of the Suvarov Islanders were not quite so lucky, being swept into the lagoon by the first wave but then swept back on land by a later wave.
The coastwatchers radioed for help using a radio made of salvaged parts – help arrived five months later in July. On 11 December, 1941, in the northern Gilbert Islands, the first New Zealand Coastwatchers were captured by the Japanese. Although questioned, particularly about the defences of Fiji, they were reasonably treated and shipped to Japan where they remained in various POW camps until the end of the war.
The Japanese invaded the southern Gilbert Islands in September 1942 and over a period of weeks the coastwatchers progressively went off the air as their island was overrun. In all, 17 New Zealand soldiers and radio operators were captured and taken to Tarawa where they were callously treated by their captors. Along with several European inhabitants of the island, they were tied to coconut palms with telephone wire for three days whilst they awaited interrogation. They were imprisoned in the “lunatic” enclosure at the local hospital and forced to work on the wharf at Betio.
On the 15th October, 1942 at Betio, apparently in retaliation for the American bombing of Tarawa and the attempted escape by a civilian, all 17 along with two Australians and three other British subjects were executed by beheading and their bodies thrown into pits.
In December 1942, all the civilian Coastwatcher radio operators, including, posthumously, those executed at Betio, were given military rank. This “involved administrative problems since dead men are unable to sign the necessary attestation papers. However, the required regulations were promulgated entitling dependants to pension rights and other privileges of men of the services.
“All those killed were later mentioned in despatches—Privates R. A. Ellis, R. I. Hitchon, D. H. Howe, R. Jones, C. A. Kilpin, R. M. McKenzie, J. H. Nichol, C. J. Owen, W. A. R. Parker and L. B. Speedy; and the operators, all of whom were given posthumous military rank—Lieutenant A. L. Taylor, Corporals H. R. C. Hearn, A. C. Heenan, J. J. McCarthy, A. E. McKenna, T. C. Murray and C. A. Pearsall.” They are all commemorated on the memorial at the Bourail New Zealand War Cemetery, New Caledonia and on a memorial dedicated at Betio, Tarawa, Kiribati on 11th November, 2002.
The seven New Zealand radio operators are remembered on a decorative memorial scroll, a copy of which is proudly displayed in the historic Musick Point Memorial Radio Station in Auckland. The original is in the New Zealand National Archives. Also remembered is the New Zealand radio operator from Ocean Island, Sgt R. Third, who died in captivity, and the British administrator on Tarawa, R. G. Morgan, who escaped into the bush and reported on Japanese military movements until his capture in September 1942 and execution along with the others on 15th of October 1942,
Source - Gillespie, Oliver A., The Pacific, Historical Publications Branch, Wellington, 1952. Part of “The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-45”.

View Casualties
    Alan McGregor Bailey
    (Flying Officer)
    Service Number:
    Reginald Richard Curtis
    (Warrant Officer)
    Service Number:
    Jack Ward Edwards
    (Flight Lieutenant)
    Service Number:
    Louis Andreas Hoppe
    (Warrant Officer)
    Service Number:
    Louis Gordon Schlesinger
    (Flight Sergeant)
    Service Number:

Cassino War Cemetery

(2 casualties)

Cassino War Cemetery lies in the Commune of Cassino, Province of Frosinone, 139 kilometres south-east of Rome. Take the autostrada A1 from Rome to Naples and leave it at the Cassino exit. At the junction of this exit and the road into Cassino, is the first of 6 clearly visible signposts to the cemetery and memorial. The cemetery is located approximately 1 kilometre from the railway station in Via Sant Angelo and visitors arriving by train are advised to take a taxi from the station. Cemetery address: Via S. Angelo 03043 Cassino (FR) Lazio. GPS Co-ordinates: Latitude 41.477555, Longitude: 13.827141.

View Casualties
    Francis William Egan
    (Private)
    Service Number:
    Austin James Howejohns
    (Driver)
    Service Number:

Forest-Sur-Marque Communal Cemetery

(1 casualty)

Forest-sur-Marque is a village about 9 kilometres east of Lille, a major town in the north of France, and 6 kilometres south of Roubaix. The Communal Cemetery is at the southern end of the village on the main road (N952) to Ascq. From the church in Forest-sur-Marque head south on the D952 and the cemetery will be found 700 metres along on the left. The Commonwealth plot is opposite the main gate in the right hand corner.

View Casualties
    Alan Gregory Stafford
    (Pilot Officer)
    Service Number:

Klagenfurt War Cemetery

(1 casualty)

Klagenfurt is the capital of the Austrian province of Carinthia. The War Cemetery lies 3 kilometres west of the city centre and to the east of the Woerther See. From Klagenfurt go out of the town west along the Villacher Strasse, which runs parallel to the Lendkanal and then, after 3 kilometres, turn left into Lilienthal Strasse along which the cemetery will be found.

View Casualties
    Jack Hector  Irwin
    (Flying Officer)
    Service Number:

Lesquin Communal Cemetery

(1 casualty)

Lesquin is a town and commune 6 kilometres south-east of Lille in the Department of the Nord. From the church, head north-west on the Rue Vottaire (D145), signposted Ronchin. The cemetery is 600 metres on the left hand side of the road. Use the second entrance into the Communal Cemetery and the War Graves will be found on the far side of the cemetery almost directly opposite the entrance.

View Casualties
    John Baird Smith
    (Flight Lieutenant)
    Service Number:

Oye-Plage Communal Cemetery

(1 casualty)

Oye-Plage is a small town 14 kilometres east of Calais on the coast. When approaching Oye Plage on the D940 from Calais, turn right at the first set of traffic lights. The car park for the Communal Cemetery will be found some 75 metres from the lights on the right hand side, and the war graves will be found in the far left hand corner of the Communal Cemetery.

View Casualties
    David Allan Goulden
    (Flying Officer)
    Service Number:

Runnymede Memorial

(1 casualty)

This Memorial overlooks the River Thames on Cooper's Hill at Englefield Green between Windsor and Egham on the A308, 4 miles from Windsor.

View Casualties
    Ernest Vernon Sage
    (Flying Officer)
    Service Number:

War Graves Project

  • About the Project
  • Details of project
  • Project Contacts
  • Project Progress
  • Project Support
  • The Beginning
  • History of the Trust

Website

  • War Casualties
  • Cemeteries
  • FAQ
  • My Account
  • Contact Us

DONATIONS & GRANTS

New Zealand Lotteries Grants Board, ASB Community Trust, First Sovereign Trust, SKYCITY Auckland Community Trust, Four Winds Foundation, The Trusts Community Foundation, The Officers’ Club Auckland, Pharazyn Trust, David Levene Foundation, Mt Wellington Foundation, Wellington City Council, Otorohanga District Council, Whakatane District Council, Waikato District Council, Gore District Council, Masterton District Council, South Wairarapa District Council, Peter Hanson, Derek Nolan, MJ & MC Dudman, W Caughey, Chris Moore, RS Morton, Michael Lorimer, Peter Macky, MORE

© 2022 Copyright War Graves Project

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use