“The lost memorials to three New Zealand soldiers who died in World War I have been unearthed from the bottom of a box in the City Archives [Wellington City Council] - almost a century after they were issued.

Three sets of medals, memorial plaques, scrolls, and letters from King George V, have been discovered after they never reached the families of the dead soldiers. Two illuminated certificates of service - an illustrated certificate sent to the families of Kiwi servicemen - were also found.

The trove was uncovered at the bottom of a box of Union Steam Ship Company records, marked as World War I accounts and records.
It appeared the army had attempted to send the honours to the three soldiers' families … After being unable to find anyone, the honours were passed on to the men's employer, the Union Steam Ship Company, which agreed to "hold them in trust".

PERCY BURTON
“Born in 1881 in London, England, he served as a machine gunner in the NZ Machine Gun Battalion. He died in May 1918, in an English service hospital of wounds received in action in France or Belgium. He was buried in Brookwood Cemetery. His service record shows repeated attempts were made to locate his next-of-kin: wife Selena Dorothy Burton. Several addresses were tried, with the first being c/o the Verdun Dining Room in Featherston. The medals were returned from one address in 1921, and the scroll was returned unclaimed. He received a plaque and scroll, the English War Medal, the Victory Medal and an illuminated certificate of service.”

[The Dominion Post, 4 April 2015]