VANZ News Issue 7
Burail in Services Cemeteries Within New Zealand
In recent weeks, Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand has received a number of enquiries regarding eligibility for burial in our Services Cemeteries, of which there are 183 throughout New Zealand.
The underlying principle of burial in a Services Cemetery is that the service person must have served in a war or an emergency that has been gazetted by the Minister of Veterans’ Affairs under Section 15 (2) of the Burial and Cremations Act 1964.
For post World War II service eligibility for burial is restricted to operational service in theatres where New Zealand service personnel have served. This includes Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, as well as specific peacekeeping missions in Africa, the former Yugoslavia, East Timor, Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Ex-service personnel who served in New Zealand, in the Regular Forces, the Territorial Forces or under the Compulsory Military Training and National Services scheme Burial in Services Cemeteries within New Zealand and who were not deployed into a specified operational area, are not eligible for interment in Services Cemeteries.
Merchant seamen who joined the Merchant Navy after the end of World War II are also not eligible for interment in a Services Cemetery.
Allied Forces
The same Service criteria applies in respect of Allied Forces. To that end, former British Forces personnel who served with the British Army on the Rhine (BAOR) after 1948, and had no operational service, are not eligible for burial in New Zealand Services Cemeteries. The same holds for former British Service personnel who had service during the Palestine campaign, the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya and the Suez crisis only.
Similarly, members of the Dutch Armed Forces who served in Indonesia immediately after World War II are not eligible.
Memorials
The military character of the cemeteries is reflected in the uniformity and standardisation of the memorials. To make sure that the standard is maintained, and that the price charged is fair, Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand looks after the ordering, manufacture and installation of memorials into our Services Cemeteries. Privately made memorials are not allowed to be placed in a Services Cemetery as this violates the principles of the Services Cemetery, which are:
• each of the dead would be commemorated individually by name;
• the memorials would be permanent and uniform; and
• there should be no distinction made on account of military or civil rank, race or creed.
If you have any queries about eligibility for burial in a Services Cemetery, additional information can be obtained by ringing Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand on freephone 0800 483 8372, emailing us at veterans@xtra.co.nz or by referring to the Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand website (www.veteransaffairs.mil.nz)