Russel Briggs from Auckland War Memorial and Jo Kane on Battlefield Tour

visit of Ewen Taylor

Memorial for Sgt Nicholas VC

Polygon wood cemetery

the wreath from Waimakariri on Buttes New Cemetery

A Dolores cross for Ewen Taylor

Jo in action

Dawn Service Buttes New British Cemetery 25/04/2011 06.00 am

Early start, special place on the battlefield

Jo Kane on behalf of the People of Waimakariri



every year more people are coming to commemorate



more and more young people

The Tatty Tenors on Buttes, national hymnes from New Zealand, Australia and Belgium (in both languages Flemish and French). Congratulations to these beautiful voices!

from Australia and New Zealand together with Belgians and people from the UK

wreaths from the officials but also private wreaths



Sons of the British Empire project



H.E. Dr Brendan Nelson Australian Ambassador, patron of the project

Jo Kane and Ingrid Vandepitte, with a Tatty Tenor, Marc Verstraete  in the rum and coffee breakfast after the dawn service

John and Marianne Sutherland with the deputy of the Australian Embassy talking about the New Zealand Dolores project

Mr Don Rowe President, NSW Branch, Returned and Services League had a chat with the Australian Ambassador

Those two did the work for the Sons of the British Empire project on Buttes

ANZAC Tattoo in the Chateau Park

The Passchendaele Pipe & Drumband

the Tatty Tenors from Australia

panoramic view

modern times , even in tattoo

warming up Haka



London New Zealand Rugby Team with the Haka



a Scottish Band

Rugby in Passchendaele

The London New Zealand Rugby team was playing against the London Scottish

The coach drivers have their own "grandstand"

sometimes hard but always sportsmanlike

"coach" Jo Kane is giving a debriefing

The real ANZAC spirit thru the sport

Jo Kane is Honorary Citizen in Zonnebeke 23/04/2011

Jo and the Council together in front of the Town Hall

panoramic view of the council room

1st Alderman Franky Bryon is giving a speech to welcome Jo.
She's only the third person to receive this honorary title and the first foreigner.

Jo thanks the Community for this honor, the twinning and the support

The gift presented to her  is a copper sculpture made by Rik Ryon. A Sunflower made from scrap from the battlefield! Zonne in the name Zonnebeke means Sun.

Signing of the Guest Book

Brigadier John Gray, author of "From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth" visited Passchendaele

Yesterday, we've got a special visitor from NZ.

Brigadier John Gray, CBE,OBE,ED,JP well known as the author of "From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth"

has been in the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 to hand over a new book about the Auckland Infantry. He 's a friend of the museum for many years. His wife Olive was with him this time.

They will attend ANZAC day in Le Quesnoy.

link for a review of his book "From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth":

http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/book-reviews/92-histories/1792-from-the-uttermost-ends-of-the-earth-the-new-zealand-division-on-the-western-front-1916-1918.html

You can buy the book at special price:

http://www.tommiesguides.co.uk/webstore/product.asp?P_ID=170026&strPageHistory=search&strKeywords=gray&numPageStartPosition=11&strSearchCriteria=any&PT_ID=all

More news about the book "Auckland Infantry" can be find here:

http://www.wheelers.co.nz/books/9780473174521-auckland-infantry-the-story-of-the-auckland-countess-of-ranfurlys-own-and-north-auckland-regiments-and-of-the-citizen-soldiers-who-served-ne/

for a review look here:

https://www.thebestlittlebookstore.co.nz/product-info.php?Auckland_Infantry-pid263.html

Unknown Kiwi Soldier

Some friends already did some research.

The cap badge worn by our mystery soldier looks very like that of the Royal Sussex Regiment.

He may very well have been a Kiwi serving in the British Army.

This is also a trail we can follow, of course.

Thank you Aaron and Buck for your contribution.

Special Request for ANZAC week

We believe this soldier is a Kiwi!

We don't know his name, rank or number. We only have a picture. His cap badge could be Signals Corps (NZ Engineers) badge. During WW1 the NZ Signals was part of the Corps of Engineers.

We are not sure but it’s quite reasonable that this man was killed here during WWI.

There is a special story about it, a love story between a Belgian Girl (Lia was her name) and the New Zealand Soldier. We would like to give that man a name....and perhaps a happy end after almost 100 years!

He seems to be the father of a Belgian boy during WWI, but the mother  never had contact with him again.

Her son was born on October 31st 1918 and registered in Somerset House,  Marylebone, London.

We suppose this soldier died or disappeared between February and November 1918.
Around the first 3 months of 1918 he should have been in London.

Roger married on April 11, 1942 and had also children who are still alive. Roger's son Patrick is in contact with me and he  also has children.

The boy's name was Roggie, later Roger.