Malaysia Hands Over Skeletal Remains Of New Zealand Fallen Soldiers

SEPANG (Selangor, Malaysia), Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia on Monday officially handed over to New Zealand the remains of 26 of its fallen soldiers to be taken to their homeland after having been buried for 63 years in this country. Also sent home was the skeletal remains of a baby, a child of one of the fallen soldiers, making in total 27 skeletal remains. The military handover ceremony was held by the Malaysian Armed Forces to honour the fallen soldiers, at the Bunga Raya Complex of the KL International Airport here. The ceremony also marked the end of the New Zealand government’s operation Te Auraki which means ‘The Return’ in the Maori language. The ceremony began with 27 vans carrying the coffins entering the airport tarmac. The coffins, wrapped with New Zealand flags, were then taken out from the vans by Malaysian Armed Forces pallbearers. This was followed by the signing of the 27 official handover certificates by Malaysia’s Chief of Defence Forces Gen Zulkifli Zainal Abidin and New Zealand Chief of Army Maj Gen Peter Kelly, witnessed by Malaysia’s Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu. After the signing, the pallbearers from the New Zealand Defence Forces carried the coffins and placed them in an Air New Zealand aircraft. After the last coffin was taken into the aircraft, the Last Post was played by the Malaysian Armed Forces while the New Zealand flag at the Bunga Raya Complex was brought down. Zulkifli then handed over the New Zealand flag to Kelly. The New Zealand servicemen died between 1955 and 1971 when they were serving with the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group. These soldiers helped Malaysia in various operations, including the Emergency, the Malaysia-Indonesia Confrontation and patrolling of the Malaysia-Thailand border. According to earlier media reports, the New Zealand government had in April last year extended an offer to bring home at public expense the armed forces personnel and dependents buried abroad since Jan 1, 1955. The Te Auraki operation in Malaysia began with the disinterment on July 4. A total of 27 remains were excavated from three Commonwealth War Grave sites - seven in Taiping, 16 in Terendak Camp, Melaka, and four, including the baby’s, in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. The identification process was carried out by anthropologists, radiologists and odontologists, comprising experts from both the Malaysian Armed Forces and New Zealand Defence Forces, as well as experts from Malaysia’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education. It was also reported that a ramp ceremony would be held when the remains are brought to Auckland Airport tomorrow before being handed over to the respective families. -- BERNAMA