New Zealand soldiers lay poppies for fallen comrades at St Nicholas's Church in Brockenhurst

MILITARY representatives from New Zealand paid a visit to honour fallen comrades buried in Brockenhurst’s cemetery.

Thousands of soldiers from New Zealand, India and other Commonwealth nations were treated for their wounds in military hospitals in Brockenhurst during the First World War, with the village chosen because of its clear air and good transport links.

As a result, those who died are honoured each year at the village’s annual Anzac service.

The annual service of remembrance and commemoration is held on the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) Day – the national day of remembrance in those countries.

In addition to the annual service, the village was visited by 26 uniformed New Zealand tri-service staff following their attendance in London for the jubilee.

They were shown the former hospital site, which is now The Tile Barn Centre, followed by a visit to St Nicholas’s Church along with Brockenhurst Parish Council chair Cllr Michael Harris, who maintains the Commonwealth war graves.

The representatives identified soldiers from their home towns and were able to lay poppies before returning home.