Gordon died on June 4. He signed up for the army aged 18 in 1941, and served overseas in Italy, Egypt, Austria and Romania, including for the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino. He didn t return to New Zealand until 1947 after taking a post with the New Zealand Graves Concentration Unit. It collected fallen Kiwi soldiers remains and gave them proper burials, often at Europe’s massive war graves. Gordon didn t travel overseas again until 2014, when he was one of several New Zealand veterans flown to Italy to mark 70 years since the Battle of Monte Cassino. He told
Stuff the highlight of his trip was visiting the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, where he had helped relocate bodies.