Respirator or gasmask given to civilians in Britain during World War II

This week’s museum artefact is a civilian respirator or gasmask. This one was issued to a civilian who was living in England during World War II. The mask is made from a light weight rubber and is attached to a canister that filtered out gas when the respirator was worn. These sorts of respirators were issued to all civilians in Britain during the conflict and this object serves to remind us of the strain placed on that island nation as it stood against the Nazi war machine. Not only was there the threat of invasion and the constant bombing from the Nazi air force, but there was also the terrifying possibility of chemical weapons being used on defenceless civilians.

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Coca Cola bottle dating back to World War II

This week’s museum artefact is an empty Coca Cola bottle recently donated and dates from World War II. During World War II the beverage company made a pledge to supply United States forces with its soft drink wherever it might be serving. During the conflict Coca Cola set up 64 bottling plants as the fighting moved through Europe and the Pacific, which resulted in over five billion bottles of Coca Cola being consumed by military personnel. This effort to supply troops around the globe with the drink was also a brilliant business move and helped the company grow massively post war and become the iconic brand it is today.

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Soldiers on horseback travel across pontoon bridge

With the spotlight on war horses at the moment with the recent release of Spielberg’s latest movie, “War Horse”, the National Army Museum is focusing some attention to New Zealand war horses.

The new film chronicles the story of a horse serving in World War I’s Western Front and sheds some deserving light on the courage and sacrifice of animals during that conflict.

Horses were the unsung hereos of World War I and instrumental in keeping the army operating. Horses served as mounts for the Mounted Rifle Brigade, provided logistical support for the army as a whole, and their companionship increased morale amongst the soldiers.

Over 10,000 horses were provided from New Zealand during the war, mainly for service in Sinai and Palestine with the Mounted Rifles Brigade.

A good friend, the horse

Conditions were severe for horses in the Sinai Palestine theatre where they had to combat thirst, hunger, exhaustion, heat and disease. In the advance on Palestine in the Middle East in 1917, New Zealand horses went 72 hours without water on a food allowance of just 12lbs of barley a day.

The New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade troopers were not used as cavalry, but rather used their horses to move quickly around the battlefield. The Mounted Rifles rode to battle and usually fought dismounted with one man in each section acting as a horse holder for the rest of the group.

However, there was a unique chapter in our history when on 7 June, 1917, as part of the attack at Messines on the Western Front, the Otago Mounted Rifles, under heavy fire, charged as cavalry on horseback, attacking an enemy post; taking nine prisoners and capturing two field guns.

“Talk about the Charge of the Light Brigade, the infantry said we were mad, and by jove we were! We charged over the barbed wire entanglements, over trenches…”                             (Trooper Fred Naylor)

This quote forms the subtitle of a recent dramatic painting which depicts the attack by the official New Zealand Army Artist, Matt Gauldie.

If you know of any war stories involving brave animals please share them with us.

Two World War II veterans and comrades were remarkably reunited in October last year, more than 67 years since they had stormed the Normandy landing beaches on D Day and one had left the other for dead.

Bill Betts and Clifford Baker were amongst the first ashore that day having spent the two previous years training together as radio operators whose role it was to send radio messages from the advancing frontline, to Allied guns so they wouldn’t shell their own troops.

On D Day, Bill was hit by enemy fire and the last time Clifford saw him he was lying wounded on the beach telling everyone else to keep going.

Miraculously both men visited the same D Day museum at Arromanches on the same day, with Clifford signing the museum’s visitor’s book just 20 minutes after Bill and recognised his name.

See a video clip and read the story.

Museum Artefact - Florence Nightingale Medal

This week’s museum artefact is the Florence Nightingale Medal. This medal was awarded to Mrs Megan Crisp of the Queen Elizabeth’s Colonial Nursing Service, 1951-56. Mrs Crisp served in Malaya. The medal instituted on 16 May 1912 was bestowed on nurses who distinguished themselves by special devotion to, and nursing of, the sick and wounded in war and peace.

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The reverse design of the WWI British War Medal

The reverse shows St George on horseback, trampling underfoot a shield with the eagle motif – a representation of the Central Powers – and a skull and cross bones; the symbol of death. Above the figure, the sun has risen in victory. The male figure represents the male population who had borne the brunt of the fighting. By showing him on horseback the artist is symbolically showing man controlling a force (in this case represented by the horse) greater than his own thus alluding to the scientific and mechanical appliances which helped win the war.

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Museum Artefact: Dried Flowers from WWII gravesite of Lt Col Ray Lynch

This week’s museum artefact is dried flowers. These flowers serve as a sad reminder of the thousands of New Zealanders who left to fight in World War II and never saw their families again. They come from the gravesite of Lieutenant-Colonel Ray Lynch who served in New Zealand’s 18th Battalion before dying of wounds whilst a Prisoner of War. The flowers were taken by Ray’s sister when she visited Italy and his gravesite. One can only imagine how difficult it would have been for Ray’s family having him so far from home where they could not regularly visit him. Having a little memento from his final resting place hopefully brought a measure of comfort to his grieving family.

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Neck Badge of a Knight Commander of the Most Honoourable Order of the Bath (KCB)

This week’s museum artefact is a neck badge of a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (KCB).

The Order of Bath was first instituted in 1399, and revived by King George I in 1725. At first it only had one class, that of Knight however in 1815 and again in 1847 the order was reorganised into 2 divisions, Military and Civilian each with 3 classes – Knight Grand Cross (GCB), Knight Commander (KCB) and Companion (CB).

The Badge shown is that of Lieutenant General Sir Leonard Thornton KCB CBE one of New Zealand’s most prominent soldiers of the last half century. Thornton served during WWII with the RNZA. Subsequently as a staff officer he was heavily involved in establishing the compulsory military training scheme in 1950. After serving successively as Quartermaster-General (1955), Adjutant-General (1956-58), and head of the SEATO Planning Office in Bangkok (1958-59), he became Chief of General Staff (CGS) in 1960. In 1965 he began a six year term as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). From 1972 – 1974 he was New Zealand’s Ambassador to South Vietnam and Cambodia.

The neck badge of the KCB is a Maltese cross of eight points each tipped with a gold ball. Between each angle of the cross is a gold lion. The central design shows the three flowers that represent the United Kingdom (a rose, a thistle and a shamrock). They are joined and connected by a central sceptre surrounded by three crowns. Around the edge there is the Latin phrase TRIA JUNCTA IN UNO which means ‘Three As One’. This is surrounded by branches of laurel with a scroll below and with the german phrase ICH DIEN, “I Serve”.

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Museum Artefact - New Zealand Cyclist Corps Badge

It is easy to forget that although the internal combustion engine was first conceived in 1884, in 1914 the vehicles that used it were still unreliable and unsuitable for off road work. A British infantry division would have around 11 cars, 4 lorries, 19 motorcycles and around 5,592 horses. Horses however, were loud and required a huge amount of logistical support; everything from food to veterinary care. The Cyclist Corps was envisioned as a mounted infantry unit that could move quickly and quietly around a battlefield. However the bicycle was soon discovered to be unsuitable and ineffective for combat in the terrain of the Western Front. Instead it was used for recon and communication tasks. The Corps was disbanded in May 1919.

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Museum Artefact - Bust of Mussolini

This week’s museum artefact is the bust of the Italian dictator Mussolini and was donated to the National Army Museum along with an amusing history. During World War II’s North Africa campaign Brigadier Jack Conolly was amongst the officers of the 24th Battalion who set up their HQ in the captured Governor’s Palace in Tripoli. As the story goes, there were two busts in the palace, one of which was of Mussolini, and Conolly commented that he preferred it better than the other. When night fell Conolly went up to his room to discover the bust of Mussolini comfortably tucked up in his bed, resting his head on the pillow. Conolly came up with a creative solution as to what to do with the very heavy piece of artwork; he wrapped it up, marked the package ‘War Papers, Top Secret’ and sent it home to his wife in New Zealand. Once in New Zealand Mussolini’s lot did not improve; he was put up on a post where Conolly’s children used to sit on his head and hit him with sticks because he was a ‘bad man’.

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