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.

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.

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.

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

Every year after the end of the First World War until at least 1930, a version of this Christmas message from Richon LeZion in what was then Palestine was sent to selected New Zealand newspapers to be published in honour of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles. The simple but powerful message specifically recognised the battle of Ayun Kara which took place on 14 November 1917.

Lance Corporal Te Hira Wati Heremaia served with both the New Zealand Special Air Service and as part of the New Zealand Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion. During his tours in Vietnam he took many photos, preserving his wartime experience. Our thanks to Te Hira’s granddaughter, Taylen Heremaia, who got in contact and made the generous offer to share her grandfather’s slides.

When New Zealanders troops liberated the fortified town of Le Quesnoy on 4 November 1918, the elected mayor of Le Quesnoy was nowhere to be seen. The inhabitants of Le Quesnoy would have to wait for the Armistice to be able to see their mayor once again. So what had happened to Achille Carlier during the war?

This article is part of an ongoing series in which we highlight the amazing contributions we receive at Online Cenotaph. The variety and quality of material that is contributed to records is astonishing and this is our opportunity to highlight just a few examples from May to September of 2022.

The Tongan Defence Force was a major part of Tonga's response to the Second World War, a conflict that would result in massive change in the Kingdom. The Tongans generously opened their lands to the Allies, and the Tongan Defence Force played an important role both overseas and at home.

Lieutenant Commander (Ret) Ralph John McNabb served in the Royal New Zealand Navy for 46 years between 1973 and 2021. His impressive institutional knowledge is a true asset to New Zealand Naval research.

July 2022 marked the 80th Anniversary of the formation of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. Formed in July 1942, it was the last of the three women's services to be established. In this article, Gail Romano (Associate Curator) discusses the history of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps from its inception.

Marguerite Durling, one of our amazing Online Cenotaph volunteer transcribers, recently received an Associate Emerita of the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The Museum Medals 2021 ceremony was held in the Events Centre on Tuesday 28 June 2022. We are publishing Marguerite's speech below, as well as the introduction given by David Reeves, Director of Collections & Research.