Seven years’ work on record of Manawatū WWI veterans
More than 330 World War I veterans from Manawatū have been commemorated in a new book by Feilding man Allan Muntz.
The book, We Shall Remember Them, took Muntz seven years to complete – and it all began after he attended a meeting at the Feilding RSA.
The Ode of Remembrance was recited at such meetings, Muntz said, after which members responded with the famous lines: “We will remember them; lest we forget.”
It led him to question who they were remembering.
“I can remember my father, who was a prisoner of war, and my uncle that served in the Pacific. But here in Feilding, who are we remembering?”
Putting his history degree and passion to work, Muntz started identifying and researching World War I veterans who had been interred in cemeteries throughout the Manawatū District.
At the Feilding cemetery, he learned that the number of servicemen buried outside the services block was double that of those buried within it.
He ended up walking up and down the rows of headstones, starting a catalogue of people who he identified as servicemen.
“A large percentage of them don’t have anything at all that indicates that they served.”
One of those headstones was mossed over and illegible.
As he took the time to read the headstone further, he found out that the man was Corporal Kenneth Ray.
Ray received a military medal for his actions during World War I, but his grave was unkempt.
“What started getting me was this was how we are remembering them – letting [a headstone] go to waste.”
He spent the next few years collecting information, cleaning headstones (though not the plaques), and researching the names of the men he found.
“I’ve got two folders full of names of people from the Manawatū cemeteries.
“I thought, well, bits of paper can go missing ... I went to the council, and they are helping with getting the funding to print off a number of books on those [men] that I’ve found.”
He largely compiled the information himself, but did have practical help from pupils at Waituna West School, who cleaned some of the headstones.
The school is located next to the Feilding Cemetery.
“Involving the next generation of custodians helps to build the connection, respect and knowledge that is important to keeping the legacy of our veterans alive.”
Muntz’s work challenges the community to get to know the history, stories and sacrifices of war and those who experienced it.
A Manawatū District Council spokesperson said that thanks to Muntz’s years of “research, dedication and fact checking”, the community now had a record of Manawatū veterans that included a photo and history from birth to marriage.
About 336 veterans were documented in the book. Muntz said there were probably more out there.
Copies of We Shall Remember Them can be bought from the Feilding RSA.