War graves clean up - April 2015

AT WORK: Cleaning graves for posterity are (from left) Mitchell Brett-Atkins, Anastasia O'Leary and Leon Harnett with local cadets.

Aramoho Cemetery's true war graves from World War 1 received a spruce up on Sunday when cadets from 9 Squadron ATC, TS Calliope Sea Cadets, Wanganui Cadet Corps and prefects from Wanganui High School took to the headstones with water and elbow grease.
True war graves hold the remains of men who died in New Zealand from injuries sustained in the war.
"Obviously, most of New Zealand's true war graves are overseas," says Squadron Leader Charles Quirk, who organised the working bee."
The team were at work last year giving the graves a clean up and they intend doing it again next year.
"We'll do it before Anzac Day every year and lock it into the training programmes.
"That way they'll continue to look good," says Charles.
He came armed with a map of the graves and deployed the cadets around the cemetery to work.
Some of the inscriptions are worn or faded so it is hoped Veterans' Affairs will redo the lettering and graphics before they're lost.