Dog tags belonging to a Maori soldier that were found in France two years ago will soon be on their way back to New Zealand.
Associate Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage, Mahara Okeroa, was handed the dog tags at a ceremony in the town of Albert in Northern France.
The tags belonged to Richard Kemp of Te Aupouri iwi in Te Kao and were found by six-year-old Zoe Corselle on the Somme battlefields.
"Fortunately for his whanau his identity was still visible on the weather-beaten tags and I'm honoured to be bringing them home on their behalf," says Okeroa.
Kemp served in Gallipoli before heading to the Somme.
The battle of the Somme started in July 1916 and on the first day 20,000 British troops were killed. Over the next four months 2,000 New Zealand soldiers were also killed. But even though his dog tags were found there Richard Kemp survived the killing fields and eventually returned home.
Zoe was in a field with her father when she found the tags.
"I saw something gleaming from the floor and I picked it up and cleaned it and saw how important it was," says Nicholas Corselle.
Zoe's school contacted the New Zealand Embassy in France who identified Kemp.
While in France Mahara Okeroa will also attend the opening of a tunnellers' museum, Carrière Wellington, in Arras a town close to the German lines.
During World War One the New Zealand Tunnelling Company constructed a series of tunnels underneath Arras that allowed for the safe placing of mines under German positions and access to the German lines.
"We are deeply grateful to the Arras Town Council for establishing the museum and opening up the tunnels to the public for the first time in many years. I am sure it will become a site of pilgrimage for descendants of the courageous kiwi tunnellers for years to come," says Okeroa.
