NZDF repatriation project begins in Fiji
The repatriation of New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel buried around the world after 1 January 1955 began officially in Fiji today.
A blessing ceremony has been held at Suva Military Cemetery for Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Secretarial Officer Flight Lieutenant George Beban, MBE, and Fireman Leading Aircraftman Ralph Scott.
Flight Lieutenant Beban and Leading Aircraftman Scott died of natural causes, in 1956 and 1960 respectively, while based at the RNZAF station in Laucala Bay.
Kaumātua conducted appropriate karakia (prayer), mihimihi (acknowledgement), karanga (opening of the spiritual portal) and mōteatea (supporting laments), along with NZDF Maori cultural advisers. An NZDF military chaplain delivered a short message to acknowledge the lives and service of Flight Lieutenant Beban and Leading Aircraftman Scott.
The service was attended by an NZDF contingent, High Commissioner to Fiji Jonathan Curr and members of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.
Group Captain Carl Nixon, leading the project known as Te Auraki (The Return), said the NZDF was grateful to the Government of Fiji for agreeing to the dis-interments and for looking after the graves for many years.
“Today we have started the journey home for two airmen buried in Suva. They are two of 37 servicemen and dependants that we anticipate repatriating over the next six months as part of project Te Auraki,” Group Captain Nixon said.
“We are committed to ensuring this process is as dignified as possible for the families, which have waited many years for their loved ones to be brought home to New Zealand.”
A dis-interment team of bio-archaeologists, forensic anthropologists and NZDF odontologists (dentists) drawn from universities and forensic experts across New Zealand will now begin the exhumation and identification process. The team is being led by an NZDF doctor.
Once the remains have been identified, the service personnel being repatriated will never be left alone, with a continuous vigil by NZDF personnel until they are handed over to their families.
The Fiji dis-interments will be followed by a blessing ceremony in American Samoa for Royal New Zealand Navy Engineering Mechanic Russell Moore, who is being dis-interred from Satala Cemetery in Pago Pago on 1 May. Engineering Mechanic Moore died in an accident on the survey vessel HMNZS Lachlan in 1956.
The three fallen personnel are due to return to New Zealand on May 7, to be handed to their families at a ramp ceremony at Base Ohakea.
