Their name liveth for evermore

NEW ZEALAND GRAVES AT BROCKENHURST
by Clare Church
Reviewed by Bill Hopper

Available from the author at 113 Milford Road, Lymington, Hampshire, SO41 8DN, England
Email: church@southern32.freeserve.co.uk
Cheques made payable to C E Church should be mailed to Ms Delia Dmello, HSBC, Customer Service Centre, P O Box 5947, Wellesly St, Auckland. Price NZ$48 (surface), NZ$68 (airmail).

British genealogist Clare Church has, in this A4-sized book, commemorated the lives of the 93 New Zealand First World War soldiers who are buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery attached to the Church of St Nicholas in Brockenhurst, Hampshire.

The book, a non-profit making venture, is the result of two years research with the help of many New Zealanders, and covers, albeit sparsely, areas of World War I interest including training, theatres of war and medical care. It is the biographies of the casualties that spikes the imagination - their antecedents, siblings, pre-war life and short service history all make for an absorbing read. Of the 93 interred in the cemetery, 51 died of wounds, 41 of sickness and one drowned in England.

But this book, like many other self-published works, falls down badly for the want of a competent editor. The basic material is there, but the writing of the text leaves much to be desired.