NZ soldier laid to rest in Belgium11:42 Sat Feb 4 2012
by AAPThe remains of a New Zealand soldier killed in World War I found in a field last year have been laid to rest with other war dead at a ceremony in Belgium.
The remains were discovered in a field last July alongside a New Zealand Rifle Brigade hat badge and other items. They have been accepted as the remains of a unknown New Zealand soldier.
"After lying in a foreign field for 95 years he is now with his mates buried with the honour and dignity befitting a soldier that fought for our country," said Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman, who attended the ceremony at Messines Ridge British Cemetery near Ieper, in Belgium.
Messines was the scene of very intense fighting by New Zealand Division, including the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, in June 1917.
About 700 New Zealand soldiers were killed in action in one day alone.
The Messines Ridge New Zealand Memorial at the cemetery commemorates more than 800 soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who died in or near Messines in 1917 and 1918 and who have no known grave.
The majority of these soldiers are listed as New Zealand Rifle Brigade personnel.
The service was also attended by Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Rhys Jones, Defence Secretary John McKinnon, Mesen Mayor Sandy Evrard, and representatives from Belgian military, Flemish Foreign Affairs, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Royal British Legion
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