Source: Porirua City Council
Some of those interred in Porirua Cemetery represent a connection to our city’s past, which can be explored as part of War Graves Week.
Corporal John (Jack) Richard Hoare, Private Thomas Gladstone Hook, Private Thomas Bruce Wallace, Private William Pentney and Trooper David Lister are all buried in Porirua Cemetery. With the embers of Anzac Day still burning, it is a chance to highlight these men, and many more servicemen, interred in Porirua.
Hoare, Gladstone and Wallace are officially listed as having Commonwealth War Graves.
Porirua historian Allan Dodson has faithfully compiled many accounts of war service from this region on his Porirua War Stories website. He says it’s never a bad time to learn about the servicemen and servicewomen from this area, but War Graves Week (16-24 May) could be the spur for our community to discover more about those that passed in service of their country.
“What many of us are trying to do by recording the personal stories of those that died in the world wars is maintain their memory as best we can. The service and sacrifice should be preserved and never forgotten.
“What War Graves Week can do is highlight the fantastic work the Commonwealth War Graves Commission does in safeguarding these gravesites for the future, along with the meticulous efforts of the New Zealand Remembrance Army around the country.
“War graves are not just in faraway lands and battlefields but in local cemeteries for us to explore, focusing on local men who died in service. It’s interesting and poignant to hear those stories.”
To that end, Allan will be leading a free tour of Porirua Cemetery on Saturday 23 May, from 10am. He knows the cemetery well and the stories of the men buried there, so be prepared to take in plenty of knowledge.
No need to register, just meet at the entrance to the cemetery off Kenepuru Drive.
Notes:
Porirua Cemetery is a small, historic cemetery that contains 3546 internments, a combination of local residents and Porirua Mental Hospital patients.
There are 165 veterans known to be interred or commemorated in the cemetery. They served in conflicts from the New Zealand Wars to Korea.
There are four men, two from WWI and two from WWII, memorialised on family graves but buried overseas.
To read more on the five Allan will highlight: