WW100 New Zealand A selection of sites and sources for learning about the history of the First World War from a New Zealand perspective, and the role your family members might have played in it. Soldiers inside the YMCA library in Beauvois, France. Ref: 1/2-013635-G. Courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. Starting Places Use these websites to start your learning journey. New Zealand and the First World War history Get an overview of the history of New Zealand and the First World War. Researching First World War soldiers Read a guide to researching New Zealand soldiers and related service personnel. Cenotaph database & personnel files Discover whether someone in your family served. Use personnel files to get more detail about First World War soldiers, from Archives New Zealand. A guide to understanding personnel files is available. Digital New Zealand search Filter by ‘usage rights’ to see how you can use the material you find. Further sites and sources Guides to specific collections
30th Battalion: Australian War Memorial The 30th Battalion was raised as part of the 8th Brigade at Liverpool in New South Wales on 5 August 1915. Most of its recruits hailed from the Newcastle region and other parts of country New South Wales, but almost an entire company was composed of former RAN ratings from Victoria. The 8th Brigade joined the newly raised 5th Australian Division in Egypt and proceeded to France, destined for the Western Front, in June 1916. The 30th Battalion’s first major battle was at Fromelles on 19 July 1916. It was tasked with providing carrying parties for supplies and ammunition but was soon drawn into the vicious fighting. In early 1917, the German Army withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. Unlike many AIF battalions, the 30th also had a relatively quiet time during the German Spring Offensive of 1918 as the 5th Division was in reserve for much of the time. Colour Patch Glossary Battle Honours Battle Honours source: Australian Army Orders (112), 1927. Casualties 458 killed, 1207 wounded Decorations
Retrospective, A look back at the last 21 Special Collections exhibitions, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand Special Collections is a rich source of information, supporting the research needs of staff and students of the University of Otago. Comprising the de Beer Collection, Brasch Collection, Shoults Collection, Post-1800 Stack Collection, Hogg Collection, McGlashan Collection, Mellor Collection, and Pulp Fiction Collection, it is both the main and supplementary source of material for 4 exhibitions every year. Retrospective: A look back at the last 21 Special Collections exhibitions is an 'exhibition of exhibitions', revisiting those held since 2002. Retrospective represents 6 years of exhibitions and highlights the wonderful range of material held in Special Collections. While most of the exhibitions were curated by the Special Collections Librarian, some had guest curators. Online exhibition In 2005, Brendan O'Brien, a Wellington based hand-craft printer, was invited to be the third Printer in Residence.
NZ History Online - The Gallipoli campaign Each year on Anzac Day, New Zealanders (and Australians) mark the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings of 25 April 1915. On that day, thousands of young men, far from their homes, stormed the beaches on the Gallipoli Peninsula in what is now Turkey. For eight long months, New Zealand troops, alongside those from Australia, Great Britain and Ireland, France, India, and Newfoundland battled harsh conditions and Ottoman forces desperately fighting to protect their homeland. By the time the campaign ended, more than 130,000 men had died: at least 87,000 Ottoman soldiers and 44,000 Allied soldiers, including more than 8700 Australians. Among the dead were 2779 New Zealanders, about a fifth of all those who had landed on the peninsula. In the wider story of the First World War, the Gallipoli campaign made no large mark.
Te Ara - New Zealand Origins The First World War was caused by the destabilisation of the balance of power in Europe due to the rise of Germany. The war began in 1914 when Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia because of the assassination of an archduke. Countries had made alliances with each other, and soon most of Europe was at war. New Zealand was part of the British Empire, and when Britain declared war on Germany, in August 1914, that meant New Zealand was at war too. The two sides were called the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary) and the Allies, which included the British Empire, Russia and France. New Zealand enters the war New Zealand decided to send soldiers to fight in the war for a number of reasons, including New Zealand’s strong ties to Britain and its concern with keeping trade routes open so it could continue to export to Britain. Within a month New Zealand troops had occupied Western Samoa, which was a German territory. Gallipoli Turkey had entered the war on the Central Powers side.
European stories & official histories Australian War Memorial - First World War Official Histories < Previous | Next > Digitised records > First World War Official Histories | Second World War Official Histories The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 is a 12-volume series covering Australia’s involvement in the First World War. The series was edited by the official historian Charles Bean, who also wrote six of the volumes, and was published between 1920 and 1942. The books, with their familiar covers, “the colour of dried blood” in the words of one reviewer, rapidly became highly regarded internationally. Bean’s work established the tradition and set the standard for all subsequent Australian official war histories. Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services, 1914–1918 Supplementary material Bean working on files during the writing of the First World War official history.
Archives New Zealand Treaty of Waitangi Exhibitions Download a high-resolution TIFF version of this treaty sheet ()Download a medium-resolution JPEG version of this treaty sheet () High quality copies of these Treaty sheets can also be ordered — contact us. <div id="imageLinkBar"><a href="?sheet=1">Sheet 1</a> | <a href="? Te Ara Website - Gallipoli The NZ and A Division sailed to the Aegean in April, leaving behind (to their dismay) the Mounted Rifles Brigade, the Otago Mounted Rifles, and the 1st Australian Light Horse. It was part (with the 1st Australian Division) of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (abbreviated ANZAC), itself part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force under General Sir Ian Hamilton. The MEF was to seize key points on the Gallipoli Peninsula and help the Navy through the Dardanelles – a huge amphibious operation mounted with extreme haste against the forewarned Turks. The Australian division began landing at first light on Sunday, 25 April, 13 miles north of Cape Helles, on a rocky shore fit for mountain goats rather than laden soldiers clambering upwards under fire. Companies and battalions soon became hopelessly intermingled and, when the New Zealand Infantry Brigade began to reinforce the left at noon the situation was highly confused. The Senussi
Anzac Day Collection This documentary gave NZ viewers, for the first time, a Turkish view of the Gallipoli story. Produced for TVNZ and Turkish TV, it focuses on four young people, two Turks and two New Zealanders, descended from Gallipoli veterans, as they explore the grim reality of their ancestors’ experience. Six Māori Battalion soldiers camped in Italian ruins wait for night to fall. In the silence the bros-in-arms distract themselves with jokes before a tohu (sign) brings them back to reality. The story of the New Zealand Army's (28th) Māori Battalion, this Tainui Stephens documentary tells the stories of five men who served with the unit. This seminal 1984 documentary tells the stories of the New Zealand soldiers who were part of the identity-defining Gallipoli campaign in World War I. Actor Wi Kuki Kaa plays a Vietnam War veteran who is dislocated by his war experience and homeless. A live broadcast (for TV One) of the Anzac Day dawn service at Waikumete Cemetery.