On 6 November 2004 the remains of an unidentified New Zealand soldier of the Great War were returned to the care of New Zealand at a ceremony held at the New Zealand Memorial at Longueval, France. The remains had been exhumed by France Area staff of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission from the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery on the Somme. Following the ceremony the remains were repatriated to Wellington, New Zealand.

On 10 November the Unknown Warrior was welcomed at Parliament by the Governor-General and Prime Minister and lay in state there until a memorial service was held the following morning at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul. Thousands of New Zealanders attended the vigil to pay their respects. The memorial service was followed by a military funeral procession through central Wellington to the National War Memorial, where the Unknown Warrior was laid to rest in the newly-created Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

The French Ambassador to New Zealand placed soil from the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery in the grave and the eight District Presidents of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association added soil and other natural materials from their regions. The Takaka marble crosses set into black granite which form the tomb's base represent the stars in the night sky, and also the Warrior's comrades who died in service and remain overseas.

Around the base of the Tomb is the text of a karanga (call), in English and Maori, welcoming the Warrior back to his homeland. A cloak of bronze lies over the tomb as a celestial mantle. It is decorated with four inlaid pounamu (greenstone) crosses, alluding to the Southern Cross constellation which guided him home and which forms part of the Warrior's national flag.

The mantle of the Tomb is inscribed with the words: AN UNKNOWN NEW ZEALAND WARRIOR HE TOA MATANGARO NO AOTEAROA