This year we’ve published both staff research and community-contributed stories, facilitated thousands of updates thanks to our volunteers transcription mahi, and welcomed countless user contributions. This shared commitment to commemorating our history is what makes Online Cenotaph unique, and our work would not be possible without the support of our community.

One million digital poppies laid

In 2024, Online Cenotaph reached a major milestone with one million digital poppies laid since the website relaunch in January 2015. Of the 267,000 records, approximately 185,000 have received digital poppies. With, an average of 8,624 poppies laid each month, the numbers demonstrate ongoing heartfelt remembrance of New Zealand service personnel. This achievement speaks volumes about our community’s commitment to honouring history and reflects the values of reciprocity and respect at the core of our mahi.

Since our establishment in 1996, Online Cenotaph has grown from a basic Roll of Honour into a detailed repository. Made possible through community contributions, this platform integrates diverse data sources to offer in-depth biographies of service personnel and empower users in their research to better understand Aotearoa New Zealand’s military history. Achieving one million digital poppies encapsulates the reciprocal nature of this relationship with the community and provides a summary of our mahi throughout 2024 as we act as a place for collective reflection and commemoration.  

User contributions

Digital poppies are part of a broader effort, with the public adding 9,293 individual data items, 4,701 images, 114 documents, and 1,253 notes. Together, these pieces bring life to the records, enriching the collective memory preserved within Online Cenotaph and fostering meaningful connections across generations. Some notable examples include:

• Relatives leaving heartfelt messages on Private Henry Hull's (811724) record.
• A photograph of Trooper Clem Scott (81266) back home in Gore shared by his direct descendant, Peter.
• A poignant message of remembrance for Lance Corporal Alfred Snelgar Lance Corporal Alfred Snelgar's (24306).

We are fortunate to have many dedicated researchers supporting Online Cenotaph’s development, including Lorraine Mona James who has made contributions to approximately 9,000 records since 2015. While Lorraine’s research may have begun with her relatives, she now supplies information for a wide number of military personnel, ranging across a variety of conflicts. Lorraine’s recent project involved adding data to a variety of Tongan World War II service personnel, providing an insight into their lives and professions before service: 

When asked what prompted her journey with Online Cenotaph and her focus on Pacific service personnel, Lorraine stated that she,

"initially began researching my Family History when I returned from the King Country to Gisborne in 2004 - putting together several Books of my father's & mother's Ancestors." Lorraine's passion progressed and "when Monty Soutar was writing his book WHITIKI! WHITI! WHITI! E! I was fortunate to met him in Gisborne and gave him photos of my Great Uncle Godfrey FAIRLIE (see page 421) & my Grandfather Herbert Vincent FAIRLIE (page 190) to use for his book. Monty became aware of my genealogy interests and asked me to do some checking of what had been put together in his book...It was from this experience that I decided to try to research the soldiers that served in the Maori Contingents and put the information onto your website."

Thank you to all our contributors, both regular and occasional, whose mahi is invaluable in helping us tell the stories of Online Cenotaph. 

Volunteers

The work we do at Online Cenotaph relies on the dedication of our volunteer team. They contribute in many ways, from assisting visitors in the Pou Maumahara Memorial Discovery Centre, to conducting research and transcribing the data that enriches records and helps to create new ones. Along the way, they often uncover new sources and information, providing us with fresh avenues for research.  

Introductions

This year we have welcomed two new volunteers to the Online Cenotaph team. Judy Owen and Garry Hood have joined the onsite team volunteering in Pou Maumahara and supporting members of the public in their research.  

Chronicles of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force  

Over the past two years, 12 digital volunteers have to date transcribed over 62,000 entries from hospital reports in the Chronicles of the NZEF (1916–1919). The Chronicles was a magazine published twice a month in London during World War I from 1916 to 1919, that recorded the service life in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. It featured reports, stories, and updates on entertainment, sporting and social events and hospital stays. This project, which began as the transcription of the hospital reports of four of the 61 issues, was originally established by the New Zealand Society of Genealogists as part of their research into those who served in Le Quesnoy for the New Zealand Liberation Museum—Te Arawhata. Online Cenotaph later inherited the project, expanding the transcription efforts to complete the full listing. 

Jayforce and Kayforce Embarkation Rolls

Last year, Liz Wilkinson successfully completed the transcription of embarkation rolls for Jayforce personnel departing from Italy and the Middle East to Japan, transcribing 185 pages and matching nearly 4,000 records to Online Cenotaph. This significant accomplishment greatly enriched the records of New Zealanders who served in Jayforce and later conflicts, such as Korea and Malaya. 

Building on this work, Liz has now transitioned to transcribing the nominal rolls for Kayforce. Our records on Korean War service were incomplete, but Liz’s detailed cross-referencing to existing records has filled in many gaps. Her efforts have identified over 1,000 individuals previously unlisted on Online Cenotaph, enabling us to create new records and enriching existing ones.  

In June, we farewelled Richard Hall OBE MNZM, who volunteered with us over the past year, before accepting a role as Honourary Colonel of the 3/6 Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. Richard was a valued presence in Pou Maumahara, bringing a wealth of military history knowledge and an enthusiasm for sharing it with the public. He was also the author of two wonderful articles on New Zealand’s involvement in the Korean War: Tough Love and A Multinational Affair.

Anzac Day 2024

Our volunteers also play a crucial role in our community outreach and this Anzac Day Judy Owen, Marion Dickinson, and Liz Wilkinson provided generous research support to our many visitors. By finding service records, suggesting relevant books, or digging deep into the available resources, our volunteers were able to facilitate a connection between visitors and their whakapapa. Listening to the stories of those who came to commemorate, our volunteers add a vital and compassionate dimension to our Anzac Day service.  

Alongside the work of our volunteers in Pou Maumahara, other Anzac Day events also took place including the Lest We Forget Poetry Competition for which Victoria Passau served as MC. Victoria was also interviewed on the RNZ Nights programme earlier in the week to discuss digital tributes and the invaluable contributions the public has made to Online Cenotaph. 

Anzac Day saw an impressive level of online engagement. During April, we recorded a significant spike in digital activity, with 477,000 page views and 60,000 unique visitors. The public contributed 2,455 images, notes, and data entries, along with 27,542 virtual poppies—three times our usual monthly interactions. This highlights the importance of commemorative dates like Anzac Day for our community. Engagement reached a peak from the 24th to the 26th, with 22,000 unique visitors during this period alone. 

Cenotaph Stories

In 2024, Cenotaph Stories highlighted diverse aspects of New Zealand's military history, from post-WWII conflicts in Southeast Asia to the contributions of the Merchant Navy and veteran Olympians. Through personal stories and historical insights, these 12 blogs explored themes of service, memory, and community connection. Here is a glimpse into some of these compelling stories.

In the spirit of this Olympic year, Madeleine Williamson, former Collection Access Librarian, highlighted the stories of New Zealand Olympians who served in the World Wars. Her blog also delves into  the origins of the Paralympics, which grew out of an initiative to improve rehabilitation for soldiers injured during World War II. This timely look at the journeys of veteran Olympians connects their service with their remarkable achievements in sport. 

New Zealand's post-WWII conflicts in South East Asia

Between 1948 and 1974, New Zealand servicepeople were involved in conflict in Malaya, Indonesia, Borneo, Brunei, and Thailand to different degrees. In this blog, Matt delved into the conflicts and created an explainer that separates them and explains some of the confusion that arises around this period of New Zealand’s military history. 

A Family Affair: Intergenerational Service in the Merchant Navy during WWII

The Merchant Navy was an integral part of New Zealand’s World War II war effort, yet its contributions are often overlooked. In this blog, Sophie looks at the experiences of two Merchant Navy families, shedding light on their important but under-recognised service. Key stories include the Mokomoko family, with Captain Albert Mokomoko becoming one of the first Māori to earn a master mariner's certificate, and the Doile family, where mother and son both served in the Merchant Navy during the war.

Online Cenotaph: Connecting communities through collective memory 

Victoria Passau, Online Cenotaph and Enquiry Services Manager, co-authored a peer-reviewed article with Dr Chern Li Liew of Victoria University of Wellington. The research examined the transformative role of Online Cenotaph in fostering social cohesion. It highlighted the platform’s effectiveness as a participatory space for collective memorialisation, demonstrating how it bridged personal narratives with military records. This interplay deepened users' sense of civic identity and connection while actively promoting inclusivity and community engagement in preserving cultural heritage. 

Liew, C.L. and Passau, V. (2024). "The Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph: community participation, collective memorialisation and social cohesion." Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi-org.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/10.1108/GKMC-08-2023-0299

Record updates

2024 was also a year of significant record updates for Online Cenotaph thanks to the mahi of our staff, volunteers, researchers, and public contributors. These record updates are vital in developing underrepresented areas of research, focusing specifically on Māori/Pacific personnel and post-World War II conflicts. 

• This year we continued our work with Cate Walker, of the Cook Islands Online Cenotaph, to update and refine the 506 Cook Islands military personnel records. We were able to add birth and death dates, as well as creating new records for a number of missing service personnel.
• The latest list supplied by the Vietnam Veterans Association was also reviewed and resulted in 2,000 records being updated. Many new records were also created for personnel from the 41 Squadron as well as the inclusion of civilian records. This ongoing work with the Veterans Association has been key in improving the completeness and accuracy of these records.
• After much work by our volunteer Liz Wilkinson, we updated 567 records for 14 Squadron Jayforce, including the creation of 120 new records (click here to view).
• We also updated 491 Prisoner of War records from the New Zealand Expeditionary Force – Prisoners of War Taken by the Enemy from August 1914 to November 1918, sourced from Archives New Zealand (R26112295). Prior to the inclusion of this list, Online Cenotaph only had 103 World War I POWs listed in a 1917 publication.
• In April 2024, after two years of work by our volunteer Marion Dickinson, we uploaded record updates based on the research from a project between Ancestry and local researcher Geoffery Rice. Out of a list of New Zealanders who died during the pandemic, Marion was able to identify 680 who were either serving or had previously served in the armed forces (click here to view them). Read more about this project here.
• As of the end of 2024, the transcription and quality control of the 11,000 index cards in the Records of New Zealand Seamen, sourced from Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, is complete. This would not have been possible without the work of previous Online Cenotaph technician Dan Millar, transcribers Aleisha Ward and Hebe Kearney, alongside many Visitor Hosts and Volunteers. Learn more about the planning and early transcription efforts of the project here. 

Contribution and Enquiry Statistics

In 2024, Online Cenotaph responded to 2,000+ enquiries and created 3,039 new records and enriched 68,000+ existing records. While the public contributed 9,293 individual pieces of data items, 4,701 images, 114 documents, and 1,253 notes. These additions reflect the ongoing dedication of our community, volunteers, and staff in enriching the platform's resources and preserving the stories of New Zealand's service personnel.

Ngā mihi

2024 has been another meaningful year for Online Cenotaph, and we are grateful for the contributions of our volunteers, researchers, staff, and community members. Your mahi ensures the stories of those who served are preserved and remain accessible for future generations. 

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa mō tō koutou tautoko i tēnei kaupapa hirahira.

Thank you for your support and dedication—our work wouldn’t be possible without you. 

Ngā manaakitanga, 

The Online Cenotaph Team