Relatives of decorated nurse, forgotten servicemen sought by army

Blanche Helliwell was on the nursing staff on the Dutch hospital ship Oranje. Photo: Nurses' Memorial Chapel museum

A highly decorated war nurse and four servicemen lie in unmarked graves. The Remembrance Army’s Christchurch co-ordinator Terry McLaughlin is looking for their relatives, so they can be honoured with headstones. Geoff Sloan reports

Sister Blanche Helliwell was a highly decorated Christchurch nurse who served overseas during World War 2 - but today she lies in an unmarked grave at Bromley Cemetery.

Blanche Helliwell is buried in the family plot at Bromley Cemetery, but does not have a headstone. Photo: Supplied

Remembrance Army Christchurch co-ordinator Terry McLaughlin is searching for relatives of Helliwell and four former servicemen also in unmarked graves, after recently receiving a donation from a local RSA to provide service headstones.

“They deserve to be properly remembered,” he said.

The Remembrance Army needs to show all efforts have been made to try and find any living relatives before Veterans' Affairs New Zealand can accept an application for a headstone, McLaughlin said.

The Remembrance Army is a nationwide volunteer group dedicated to restoring and maintaining the graves of people who served in the military, and discovering and retelling their stories.

“Because whether they were conscripted or volunteers, they served this country,” he said.

Helliwell died aged 96 on February 24, 2005, and was buried in her family’s plot.

“There’s a family headstone and a plaque, and she’s not on it. I think being unmarried with no children, there was no one left to arrange it,” McLaughlin said.

“It’s quite sad really, because she was possibly the last of her line to die.”

Remembrance Army Christchurch co-ordinator Terry McLaughlin is searching for relatives of Sister Blanche Helliwell, and four servicemen buried at Sydenham Cemetery, before applying for headstones for their unmarked graves. PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN

A chance purchase of a nursing history book listing Christchurch Hospital-trained nurses inspired McLaughlin to investigate where they were buried.

“That’s how I got onto Blanche Helliwell.”

Helliwell started her training at Christchurch Hospital in the late 1920s and was working at St George’s Hospital in 1939 when the war broke out.

She enlisted in 1941 and, after training at Burnham Camp, was posted to the Dutch hospital ship HS Oranje.

The Oranje served in the Pacific, Mediterranean and Middle East, and could take up to 800 patients.

Blanche Helliwell served on the MS Oranje during World War 2. Photo: Supplied

Helliwell became Sister in Charge and served onboard for four years until the war ended.

For her exceptional service, she was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross in 1945.

The military decoration is for members of official nursing services who demonstrated exceptional devotion, competence or bravery while nursing sick and wounded military personnel.

She was also awarded the 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star, Africa Star, Pacific Star, Italy Star, War Medal 1939-45, and New Zealand War Service Medal.

After the war, Helliwell returned to civilian nursing, becoming head nurse of the Christchurch Plunket Society. She died 60 years after WW2 ended.

“I’ve been through her will, and as far as I could see, there’s nothing saying that she’s not to have a headstone. But it would be good if we could find her relatives,” McLaughlin said.

Bernard Thomas Byers in 1944. Photo: NZ Remembrance Army

He is also searching for the families of four servicemen buried at Sydenham Cemetery: Trooper Frederick Cleave Jones, Rifleman James Samuel David Porter, Private Bernard Thomas Byers and Transport Warrant Officer, 2nd Class James Alexander Middleton.

McLaughlin said arranging a headstone for a war grave is a long and expensive process.

“The whole process could cost up to $1800 each time.”

He said commissioning the headstone needed approval from the city council and Veterans Affairs New Zealand.

“Once the work is completed, a laying ceremony takes place, and any located relatives are invited to attend.”

McLaughlin, a former registered nurse, joined the Remembrance Army in 2021, after being asked to take responsibility for Sydenham Cemetery near his home.

“I said, oh yeah, that’ll be fine. In my mind I had pictured the small Addington Cemetery, not the huge 16,000 burials at Sydenham Cemetery I had agreed to.”

He said it took him eight months to narrow down people who could have potentially served in either the Boer War, WW1, WW2, or both world wars in some cases.

Over the past four years, McLaughlin has helped maintain and restore 450 service graves at Sydenham, with 44 still unmarked.

“It’s as much a learning experience as anything. Looking into these people’s lives, how they lived and died, gives you a better perspective than just reading a history book.”

McLaughlin plans to keep going as long as he can.

“My mobility’s not great now, but it would be good to see the remaining unmarked war graves at Sydenham Cemetery recognised with headstones before I finish,” he said.

“They deserve to be remembered.”

McLaughlin is also seeking relatives of the four servicemen buried at Sydenham Cemetery:

Trooper Frederick Cleave Jones, born in 1879, served in the 8th Contingent of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles during the Boer War, 1899 to 1902. Jones died in 1924, aged 44.
Rifleman James Samuel David Porter, born in 1892, served in WW1 with 3rd Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, and died of wounds in 1916 aged 24.
Private Bernard Thomas Byers, born in 1925, was a member of the New Zealand JayForce contingent stationed in Japan between 1946 and 1948 following WW2. Byers died in 1979, aged 53.
Transport Warrant Officer, 2nd Class James Alexander Middleton, born in 1928, served with 10 Transport Company of KayForce, in the Korean War 1950-1953.