TEN New Zealand soldiers, destined for the Western Front, but killed in a railway accident at Bere Ferrers within hours of arriving in Europe, are to have their names engraved on parish war memorials — 83 years after their deaths.

Their names are inscribed on a plaque in the local church, but in a parish still touched by the accident, it was decided that they should be added to the two war memorials bearing the names of local people killed in both world wars.

Phil Archer, chairman of Bere Ferrers Parish Council, said: 'The men were here helping us and this being millennium year, we thought it was fitting that we made sure they would be remembered.'

All the names inscribed on the monuments are read out every year in the Armistice Day commemorations on November 11.

The engraving work is expected to be carried out shortly, after which there will be a service of dedication.

Mr Archer, who is a member of the Royal British Legion, has contacted New Zealand's legion — the Returned Servicemen's Association — to see if relatives of the men can be contacted before the event.

Stan Sherrell, British Legion president, said: 'I think it is a wonderful idea to get the names out on the memorials rather than just the plaque in the church.'

Mr Sherrell, who has researched the accident, said it happened on September 24, 1917.

'They had just disembarked from New Zealand at Plymouth and were on their way to Salisbury. They were expecting to stop at Exeter to have something to eat and drink,' he said.

'Unfortunately, as the train was coming up the up-line at Bere Ferrers the signal was against it. The train came to a halt at the station and not only the men detailed to get out for the rations, but others, too, got out there,' said Mr Sherrell.

He added that the long train overhung the platform at Bere Ferrers, but because many of the New Zealanders would not have expected a platform anyway, they got off.

'Some men jumped down onto the down-line side of the track,' said Mr Sherrell. 'An express was coming down, but the gentle curve of the line meant they would not have seen the men — there wasn't a cat in hell's chance. The fireman shouted at the driver that there were men on the line but they only had seconds.'

Almost all the men were killed at once. Two died over the next couple of days in Tavistock Hospital.

They were buried in Efford cemetery in Plymouth. Young girls from the village tended their graves for a considerable length of time afterwards. Mr Sherrell said the last of the girls had died recently.

'There was a sense of shock and respect for these boys who came all the way across the world to help us,' he said.

The men were William Gillanders, 36, from Christchurch, William Greaves, 31, from Paraparaumu, John Jackson, 20, from Dunedin, Joseph Judge, age and home town unknown, Chudley Kirton, 21, from Fitzroy, Baron Archibald Wilson McBryde, 24, Richard McKenna, 20, from Pahiatua, William Trussle, 28, from Wanganui, John Warden, 33, and Sydney West, 21, from Warea.