NZ Remembrance Army

08/10/2026

🇦🇺🇳🇿 THE WALLABY WHO SERVED IN THREE CONFLICTS

As we build towards another All Blacks v Wallabies clash this weekend, here is an extraordinary Australian rugby and military story.

Cecil Egan Murnin was just 17 years old when he volunteered for the New South Wales Naval Contingent and sailed for China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.

Serving as a midshipman, Murnin and his comrades were employed as infantry and on security duties around Peking. For his service he received the China War Medal.

He returned to Australia in 1901.

And almost immediately headed off to war again.

Murnin travelled to South Africa during the Boer War, where he served as a lieutenant. His service took him into Cape Colony, and he eventually returned to Australia in 1902 with the Queen's South Africa Medal.

Then came rugby.

A big, fearless loose forward standing around 6ft 2in, Murnin became one of the leading Australian players of his generation.

In 1905 he toured New Zealand with the Australian team, crossing the Tasman to take on the New Zealanders.

Two years later he captained New South Wales against the All Blacks — and his side defeated New Zealand 14–0.

Murnin was subsequently selected for Australia's historic 1908 tour of Britain, although serious illness during the voyage forced him to return home before the tour began.

But his military story wasn't finished.

When the First World War began in 1914, Murnin was appointed a lieutenant in the Naval Expeditionary Force and continued his association with Australia's naval forces, eventually reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve.

Then came a remarkable and poignant ending to his story.

On Anzac Day 1921, Murnin was at Bombala, New South Wales, presenting British War Medals to local returned servicemen.

Shortly after presenting the final medal, he collapsed on the stage.

He never regained consciousness.

Cecil Egan Murnin was just 38 years old.

Soldier. Sailor. Wallaby.

A man whose life connected the Boxer Rebellion, the Boer War, the First World War and the great trans-Tasman rugby rivalry.

More than a century later, as Australia and New Zealand prepare to meet on the rugby field again, it is worth remembering the extraordinary men who wore the jerseys before them.

Cecil Egan Murnin
1883–1921

🇦🇺🇳🇿 Lest We Forget.

08/10/2026

Today we again, remember Private Margery Greenfield Ser No 822452 who was killed on this day, 81 years ago on 7 October 1945 in an aircraft accident in France aged 31.
Her story was published last year but she has again been remembered, and thanks to the Remembrance Army, a poppy has been added to her parents grave in the Anderson Bay Cemetery Dunedin. She is remembered on their grave and now has an acknowledgement of her service.
The grave can be found in Block 203, Plot 71.
Lest we forget.

08/10/2026

08/10/2026

🇳🇿 CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

The New Zealand Remembrance Army works with people and political parties from across the political spectrum.

Over the years, we’ve worked with a number of senior politicians in recognising veterans, telling their stories and helping preserve our military heritage. We generally don't single politicians out — remembrance should sit above politics.

But sometimes credit is simply due.

When Ron Mark was Mayor of Carterton, he was instrumental in the restoration of the Carterton War Memorial and in ensuring that our more contemporary service was recognised alongside earlier generations.

Afghanistan. East Timor. Peacekeeping. Southeast Asia.

Those campaigns and operations are now represented on the memorial, recognising generations of New Zealanders whose service can sometimes be overlooked on our older memorials.

So, Ron, we’re going to nod our caps to you and simply say thank you for supporting New Zealand's veterans, veterans' groups and remembrance.

Credit where credit is due.

🇳🇿 Lest We Forget.

Hon. Ron Mark: New Zealand First Candidate for Wairarapa

08/10/2026

🇳🇿 A SNEAK PEEK — KELVIN GROVE, PALMERSTON NORTH

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the veterans’ graves we’ve located in the public section of Kelvin Grove Cemetery.

Over the coming months, our volunteers will be working through these graves and giving them the care and attention they deserve.

We understand that not every family can still visit and maintain a grave. Families move away, generations pass, and sometimes there simply is no family left.

That’s where the Brotherhood of Service matters.

Every veteran is one of ours.

We treat their resting places with the same kindness and respect we would give our own family, because they are part of our service family.

Our servicemen and women served together. They fought together. They bled together. And many died together.

So whether someone served 100 years ago or much more recently, if they gave part of their life in service to New Zealand, we will do our best to make sure they are remembered.

We look after our own.

🇳🇿 Lest We Forget.

07/10/2026

3/916 Private Clarence Perrin, NZMC, 21
Today we remember the eighth of the NZ Medical Corps personnel who drowned in the Aegean Sea on 23 October 1915, when the Marquette was torpedoed. Perrin was born at Palmerston North on 8 November 1893, the oldest son among the eight children of Arthur and Mary Perrin; Clarence had a twin, Sydney, who died in infancy. After leaving school, Clarence found employment as a salesman with Whitcombe and Toombs at their Wellington premises, a job he held until war broke out in 1914.

Enlisting on 10 August 1914 at Wellington, Perrin was immediately accepted for service in the Samoan Expeditionary Force and posted to No.4 Field Ambulance in view of his four years’ voluntary service with a Medical unit in the Territorials. His attestation form stated he was unmarried and named his father in Palmerston North as next of kin. Clarence ended his service there at his own request in April 1915 and was duly discharged. Perrin re-enlisted at Palmerston North on 15 July 1915 and embarked from Wellington on 14 August 1915 with the NZEF's 6th Reinforcements. He joined the staff at No.1 Stationary Hospital at Port Said on 8 October 1915.

Private Clarence Perrin is commemorated on the Mikra Memorial in Greece and on his parents’ plot at Terrace End Cemetery, Palmerston North.

07/10/2026

🇦🇺🏉🇳🇿 THE WALLABY WHO BEAT THE ALL BLACKS — THEN CAME BACK TO FIGHT

With the All Blacks and Wallabies meeting this Saturday, we remember another extraordinary rugby international whose story links Australia, New Zealand and the battlefields of the First World War.

William George “Twit” Tasker — Wallaby No. 130.

Tasker toured New Zealand with Australia in 1913, making his Test debut against the All Blacks at Athletic Park in Wellington.

He played all three Tests of that tour.

And in the final Test, Australia defeated New Zealand 16–5 — with Tasker playing an important role in opening the defence for one of Australia's tries.

But within two years, rugby had been replaced by war.

Tasker enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and served at Gallipoli.

There he was badly wounded by a bomb blast, with fragments driven into both feet. His injuries were serious enough that he was eventually returned to Australia and discharged from the Army.

For many men, that would have been enough.

Not for Tasker.

He wanted to return to the war.

He attempted to re-enlist and was rejected twice because of his injuries.

On his third attempt, he was accepted.

This time he joined the artillery and returned overseas as a gunner, serving on the Western Front through 1917 and 1918.

Then came the great Allied offensive at Amiens.

On 9 August 1918, the day after the offensive began, Tasker was working on the sights of his artillery piece near Harbonnières when a German shell exploded beside the gun.

He was terribly wounded.

Tasker was carried away on a stretcher, still conscious, but apparently knew the wounds were fatal.

He died later that day.

He was just 26 years old.

Today, Gunner William George Tasker lies in Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery in France.

So when the Wallabies and All Blacks run onto the field this Saturday, remember one of the young men who played this great rivalry more than a century ago.

He came to New Zealand as a Wallaby.

He played the All Blacks.

He survived Gallipoli.

He was sent home wounded.

And then — despite being rejected twice — he volunteered to go back and fight again.

🏉 Wallaby No. 130
🎖️ Gunner, Australian Imperial Force
🌹 William George “Twit” Tasker
1891–1918

Lest We Forget.

07/10/2026

Respect

07/10/2026

🇦🇺🏉 THE WALLABY WHO WENT TO KOKODA

With the Wallabies and All Blacks meeting again this weekend, we remember another extraordinary Australian rugby player whose greatest test came far from a rugby field.

His name was Stanley “Stan” Bisset MC OAM.

In 1939, Bisset was selected for the Wallabies tour of Britain and Ireland.

For a young rugby player, it should have been the opportunity of a lifetime.

Instead, history intervened.

The Australians arrived in Britain just as the Second World War began.

The tour was cancelled.

Instead of playing rugby, the Wallabies spent part of their time filling sandbags as Britain prepared for war.

Eventually the team sailed home. A match was arranged against a British Army side in Bombay on the journey back, giving Bisset his only appearance for Australia.

He would never play a Test.

Back in Australia, Stan enlisted in the 2/14th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, following his older brother Hal “Butch” Bisset into the Army.

The brothers served in the Middle East before their battalion was recalled to meet the Japanese advance in Papua New Guinea.

And so the man who should have been playing international rugby found himself fighting on the Kokoda Track.

At Isurava in August 1942, Butch was terribly wounded by Japanese machine-gun fire.

Stan reached his brother.

For hours he remained beside him.

The two brothers talked about their childhood, their mother and father, and the life they had shared together.

Eventually, Butch died in Stan's arms.

Stan continued fighting.

He survived the Kokoda campaign and the terrible fighting at Gona, and later fought through the Markham and Ramu Valley campaigns.

For his courage and leadership he was Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Military Cross.

He survived the war and came home.

Decades later, Australian rugby formally recognised the man whose international career had effectively disappeared with the outbreak of war.

Stan Bisset lived until 2010, dying at the remarkable age of 98.

His life had begun with dreams of representing Australia on the rugby field.

Instead, his generation was asked to do something considerably greater.

So when the All Blacks and Wallabies take the field this weekend, spare a thought for one of the Wallabies whose international career never really had the chance to begin.

Stanley Young Bisset MC OAM
1939 Wallaby
2/14th Battalion, AIF
Kokoda veteran

A Wallaby.

A soldier.

A brother who held his dying brother in his arms on the Kokoda Track.

🇦🇺 Lest We Forget. 🇳🇿

07/10/2026

🇳🇿 A GALLANT NEW ZEALANDER — COLONEL THOMAS JOHN TODD CMG, DSO

Born in Christchurch in 1873, Thomas John Todd was a New Zealander who went on to become one of the distinguished Australian mounted officers of the First World War.

He went to Christchurch Boys High and Auckland Grammar.

Before the Great War, Todd had already seen extensive active service.

He fought in the South African War with the New Zealand forces, beginning as a lieutenant and later becoming a captain and adjutant.

He was mentioned in despatches several times, awarded the Distinguished Service Order, and received both the Queen’s and King’s South Africa Medals.

After the war he returned to New Zealand before moving to Western Australia in 1904.

When the First World War began, Todd was among the first to enlist and helped organise the 10th Australian Light Horse Regiment.

He sailed as a captain in February 1915, was rapidly promoted, and served at Gallipoli, including on the famous Walker’s Ridge.

His war continued across the Middle East.

Todd served on the Suez Canal, led a composite force deep into the desert to destroy Turkish water supplies, and fought at Romani, Magdhaba, Rafa and Gaza.

At the Second Battle of Gaza he was wounded in the eye.

He returned to duty and continued through the Palestine campaign, including operations associated with Beersheba and Jerusalem.

For his distinguished service he received further recognition, including a Bar to his DSO and appointment as a CMG.

At Damascus, after returning to duty by aeroplane following another period in hospital, Todd took command of an internment camp holding some 10,000 Turkish prisoners.

This was a remarkable military career spanning two wars and service with both New Zealand and Australian forces.

Colonel Thomas John Todd died of heart failure while travelling back to Perth. Such was the esteem in which he was held that his old regiment, the 10th Light Horse, decided to erect a memorial to his memory.

A Christchurch-born New Zealander who became an Australian Light Horse commander — and a soldier whose service stretched from South Africa to Gallipoli and Palestine.

Today we remember Colonel Thomas John Todd CMG, DSO.

🇳🇿 🇦🇺 Lest We Forget.