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Cenotaph Stories

  • 25 Years of Online Cenotaph

    Victoria Passau
    Online Cenotaph and Enquiry Services Manager

    Online Cenotaph has been commemorating the experiences of Aotearoa New Zealand’s military service for more than 25 years. Online Cenotaph is a collection of data relating to Aotearoa New Zealand’s operational military service including personal, biographical, demographic, social and military information. But it is much more than a collection of datapoints.

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  • Three Generations of Service

    Nelson Bennett
    Collection Technician - Research Support

    This article is about the McFarlanes, a family that, like so many others, was marked by the horrors of war through the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their story gives us insight into the struggles of so many New Zealand families in this period.

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  • Pamela Todd in Singapore

    Victoria Passau, Online Cenotaph & Enquiry Service Manager

    The New Zealand Army had a long-term presence in South East Asia. Including the 1st Battalion (1RNZIR) base in Singapore post-Vietnam up until 1974. Online Cenotaph has very few records for this period of service and so we jumped at the chance to interview nurse Pamela (Pam) Todd who had served in South East Asia in 1972.

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  • New Zealand Battalion 5 in Timor Leste

    Captain Roger Hovenden (Ret.)

    In this Cenotaph Story Roger Hovenden shares his experience of service in East Timor (Timor Leste) between November 2001 to May 2002. Between September 1999 and 2002, more than 5,000 NZDF personnel served in Timor as part of International Force East Timor and others did until 2012, serving with the United Nations.

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  • Ron Hands: Victor 4’s Chef

    Warrant Officer Ron Hands, New Zealand Army, (Ret.)

    Warrant Officer Ron Hands (Ret.) kindly provided the following article in response to a call for submissions printed in the Spring 2022 Edition of the Veteran's News. Ron was a Chef with 1RNZIR at Terendak Camp, 1968-1970.

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  • A Kiwi in Canada

    Nelson Bennett
    Collection Technician - Research Support

    Lawrence Don Bennett was one of 7000 kiwis who shipped off to Canada to take part in the Air Training Scheme. The program was massive, and it affected so many New Zealand service people, but is often overlooked in the history of the Second World War.

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  • Support Online Cenotaph

    December 2021 marked 25 years of Online Cenotaph. The Museum is working hard to expand the voices being shared on Online Cenotaph so that more of our communities can access this taonga. We are so excited to recognise this significant milestone in digital commemoration, but we need your help to fulfil our potential for years to come.

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  • Remembering the Barbers: From the War to Wilson Street

    Matthew Nickless
    Collection Technician - Research Support

    The Barber family had four sons who served in the First World War. Matthew Nickless’ grandmother still remembers her grandfather and his brothers, and he uses those memories and family stories to trace the path of the family through the war and into peace.

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  • RNZCT Driver Training Team – Multinational Force and Observers Sinai, 1983 – 1984

    Captain Peter Sheppard, New Zealand Army, (Ret.)

    Captain Peter Sheppard (Ret) kindly provided the following article in response to a call for submissions printed in the Spring 2022 Edition of the Veteran's News.  Peter was a member of the Driver Training Team as part of the Multinational Force and Observers Sinai, 1983 – 1984

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  • A year in review: Online Cenotaph 2022

    Online Cenotaph, Victoria Passau and Madison Pine

    This year was a milestone year for Online Cenotaph celebrating both 25 years of Online Cenotaph, and also reaching over 100,000 public data contributions and 65,000 images uploaded.

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