King’s Birthday Honours: The veteran behind the military grave restoration movement

Monday, 2 June 2025

Simon Strombom at the grave in Porirua that stirred his interest and started him off on a mission to restore the graves of military personnel.

Growing up in Taranaki, Simon Strombom’s great uncle took him to historic sites around the region inspiring a love of history in his young nephew.

The uncle, David Rawson, was also the inspiration for Strombom joining the New Zealand Army.

Now a retired Major and decorated Afghanistan veteran, Strombom founded a nationwide initiative - the New Zealand remembrance Army (NZRA) - to clean and restore the abandoned graves of former service personnel.

For his efforts, Strombom has been awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours.

He was humbled to be included in this year’s honours list, he said.

“Every volunteer within the NZRA has contributed to preserving our military heritage and this recognition belongs as much to them as it does to me. From day one, the NZRA has never been about individuals — it’s been about community, service and shared history.”

He also paid tribute to his five children, aged from 23 to 6, who have each played a role in the charity. The award also holds personal significance for Strombom as his father died on June 5 - the Saturday of Queen’s Birthday Weekend, 2000, he said.

“My father would have been incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished with the NZRA. This honour is for him and David Rawson, and for all those former service personnel we strive to remember.”

More than 250,000 graves of military personnel from around the country have been cleaned in the initiative.

It started in 2018 with one Porirua grave after seeing a Facebook post, he said.

“We realised there were many in a bad way.”

Strombom has lived in Porirua for 20 years, but says his roots are in Taranaki.

He organised the restoration of more than 3500 graves in Porirua Cemetery. In 2019, the NZRA charity established teams in Auckland, South Taranaki, Dannevirke, Foxton, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Among the achievements closest to his heart are the Valour Projects - inscribing the names of 226 New Plymouth Boys’ High School old boys lost in WWII on the school's memorial gates in 2023, and championing the long-overdue recognition of Ettie Rout in Parliament in 2024.

All were done by great teams, he said.

“The gates in 2023 will forever be one of our greatest projects. That was done with the help of Aaron Lock, an exceptional teacher and friend from New Plymouth Boys’ High School.

“To see the RNZAF in formation over Boys’ High will be one of my greatest memories. We so did our old boys proud that day. It was exceptional.”

Though he’s lived in Porirua for two decades, his roots remain in Taranaki.

“Our charity’s strong connection to New Plymouth, and especially New Plymouth Boys’ High School, it is a legacy I’m proud to carry forward as a third-generation old boy.”

The NZRA has partnered with iwi to restore Māori war graves, and helped establish remembrance initiatives abroad, including in the Cook Islands and Australia, he said.

His efforts to preserve history have extended online as well, through a social media campaign that shares the stories behind the headstones — more than 8000 and counting, he said.

“This honour is a tribute to everyone who has picked up a brush, attended a working bee, or helped us tell these important stories.”

In 2009, while still in the army, Strombom was awarded a Distinguished Service Decoration in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for exemplary service in Kabul as a liaison officer between Nato forces and the Afghan Government in 2008.