New Zealand Cemetery

Opened on 7 October 1945 and located in the Nessadiou district, the cemetery is a tribute to all the New Zealand soldiers who died during the Second World War. From 1942 to 1943, thousands of soldiers were sent from New Zealand to New Caledonia, which was being used as a support base for the Allied forces fighting Japan. Bourail became New Zealand's main headquarters and a training camp, hospital, communications centre, petrol station and bakery were all set up to support the soldiers. From 1943, soldiers who died in the various battles in the Pacific were buried in the Bourail cemetery, which now has 242 graves and 449 names engraved on its memorial. Every year on 25 April, when Anzac Day is celebrated in Australia and New Zealand, a ceremony is held in memory of the fallen soldiers.