6 May 2018

Blessing ceremony held in Fiji for repatriation

11:37 am on 6 May 2018

The remains of three military personnel who died in Fiji and Samoa decades ago are on their way back to New Zealand.

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Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller

Two airmen, Flight Lieutenant George Behan and Leading Aircraftman Ralph Scott, died of natural causes in 1956 and 1960 while at the RNZAF's Laucala Bay base at Suva.

Navy mechanic Russell Moore died in an accident on a survey vessel in American Samoa in 1956.

The repatriation of the men's remains is the result of a policy change announced last year to bring home service personnel buried overseas between 1955 and 1971.

The identities have been confirmed and the remains will be handed over to families at a ramp ceremony at Ohakea airbase tomorrow.

The repatriation, part of project Te Auraki (The Return), is among the 37 servicemen and dependants expected to be repatriated over the next six months.