Discover the real war stories of our Kiwi soldiers as they served New Zealand around the world, including World War I and II. From tales of heroic battles and daring escapes to remembering those that made the ultimate sacrifice, learn more about our military history with voices from the past.
25 February 1943 is one of the darkest and most misunderstood days in New Zealand’s military history. On that day, at the Featherston Prisoner of War Camp, a tragic misunderstanding between two very different cultures resulted in the deaths of 48 Japanese prisoners of war and one New Zealand guard.
Read moreThe story of HMT Marquette and of Privates Victor John Nicholson and John Turnbull Ross, passengers aboard the troopship when it was struck by a torpedo and sunk in the Aegean Sea on 23 October 1915.
Read moreThe stories of nurses Grigor, Rae, Hildyard, Fox, Gorman, Brown and Clarke, passengers aboard the troopship Marquette when it was struck by a torpedo and sunk in the Aegean Sea on 23 October 1915.
Read moreThe stories of nurses Popplewell, Walker and Rattray, passengers aboard the troopship Marquette when it was struck by a torpedo and sunk in the Aegean Sea on 23 October 1915.
Read moreThe stories of Corporals Pettit and Mirfin, Private Nicholson, and Orderly Stone, passengers aboard the troopship Marquette when it was struck by a torpedo and sunk in the Aegean Sea on 23 October 1915.
Read moreThe Soldier-Settler Scheme at the end of World War I was the largest effort allowing for the claiming of land by the government to be parcelled out to returning soldiers as well as the supply of loans.
Read moreCOMEMMORATING THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES, ‘PASSCHENDAELE’, JULY TO NOV 1917 The Museum’s textiles collection has a small yet powerful object used by a young man in the First World War. Bright Ernest Williams from Rissington, Napier, enlisted with H Company, 3rd Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade in 1916, and embarked overseas with the 5th […]
Read moreWilliam Rupert Pyle was born at St Bathans (Otago) on 17 January 1889. He was a member of the Waitaki High School Cadets and on leaving school, went to work in Dunedin as a Clerk for the Bank of New South Wales. He was a keen sportsman and had played representative rugby for Otago in 1914. […]
Read moreThe history of the Japanese POW camp at Featherston during WWII.
Read moreThe story of Major the Horse, the only one to return at the end of the Anglo-Boer War.
Read moreThe story of WWI Anzac nurse Ellen Bennett Brown who served in both Egypt and France.
Read moreChristmas gift, 1918 of playing cards and case given to Temporary Sergeant Percy Howard Wynne Maysmor.
Read moreWilliam George Malone was one of New Zealand’s outstanding soldiers of the Gallipoli Campaign. He was of solid build and stood over six feet tall. He shared his time between being a farmer, lawyer and devout family man and in 1914, achieved his lifelong ambition of going to war. He had previous territorial service as […]
Read moreUpham’s Early Years Charles Hazlitt Upham was born in Christchurch on 21 September 1908. He was educated at Waihi School near Timaru, Christ’s College, and Canterbury Agricultural College (Lincoln). In his twenties he spent some time as a high country shepherd, a musterer, and farm manager. In 1935 Upham met Molly McTamney, a dietitian at […]
Read moreTheir names shall live for ever, In the Halls of Memory. They gave their lives as ransom, That we who live be free.
They bought us peace and freedom, Nor grudged the utmost price. God grant that we prove worthy, Of their great sacrifice.
Alice nursed men from Gallipoli and with the arrival of big convoys of casualties from the peninsula, it meant doing up to 190 dressings a day as the gunshot and shrapnel wounds were terrible. Alice and the other nurses also treated soldiers who had contracted diseases. Dysentery, diarrhoea and typhoid fever were common, and there was also the problem of venereal disease which had spread amongst many of the men.
Read moreAlexander Beddington of Christchurch served with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli. Recognised early for his leadership qualities he was quickly promoted to Sergeant just ten days after joining the Army. On June 1st 1915 after over a month of fighting he was shot in the head, probably by a Turkish sniper although was not killed instantly.
Read moreThe story of Alexander Forsythe, a jeweller and optician from Motueka who served with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion at Galliopli. Lieutenant Alexander Forsythe went ashore at Gallipoli on 25 April with the rest of the Canterbury men. They were all ashore by 12.30pm and came under Turkish fire. They moved inland, dug in and fought small battles over the next few days.
Read moreThe story of Whakatane farmer Philip Soutar, who with a strong sense of duty joins the war effort in 1917 at age 37, and sees action on the battlefields of Flanders Fields.
Read moreNot all of our Anzac wartime heroes were men in khaki. A true pioneer of her time, Gladys Sandford was a woman who achieved more firsts than many could imagine.
Read moreGunner the dog was adopted in Afghanistan by the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team.
Read moreFreda the dog was a mascot for the New Zealand Rifle Brigade at Brocton Camp near Cannock Chase in Staffordshire during World War One.
Read moreFloss the much-loved mascot of the World War I Army rugby team when they were touring England in 1917.
Read moreAnimals have long been ‘recruited’ into the armed forces as military mascots and have served their masters with loyalty and distinction.
Read moreCaesar was an English bulldog that became the mascot of A Company, 4th Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade during World War I.
Read moreJohn McKee was born on 3 July 1876 in Thames and on leaving school, completed his apprenticeship as a carpenter before working in Te Aroha.
Read moreRoland Blennerhassett was born in Auroa, Hawera on 3 May 1897. Coming from a large family of two girls and seven boys, six of the Blennerhassett brothers would find themselves enlisting for service before the end of WWI.
Read moreTamati (also known as Thomas) Te Patu was born on 19 December 1895 at Karioi, near Waiouru. At the outbreak of World War One, Tamati was farming at Karioi with his father Tirepa. He enlisted on 1 July 1915 and began his training with the Māori Contingent at Narrowneck Camp on the North Shore of […]
Read moreRupert Sydney Taucher was born in Masterton on 21 September 1895 and lived his early life in Carterton. Moving to Te Kuiti to work, he completed two years’ Territorial service with the 16th Waikato Regiment and when World War One started, Rupert was working as a labourer in the Te Kuiti area. Rupert Taucher enlisted […]
Read moreStory of former New Zealand track star Arthur Porritt, an Olympic bronze medallist who served during World War II.
Read moreDigger Pierrots were a collection of like-minded soldiers from New Zealand who established themselves as a performance group in the northern French base camp of Etaples in 1917.
Read moreThe remarkable story of Kiwi James Waddell whose glittering military career spanned 20 years in France’s Foreign Legion.
Read moreThe Croix de Guerre, a French military decoration, was one of the most common medals issued by a foreign government to British and Commonwealth personnel during WWI. Translated as Cross of War or Military Cross, the medal was rewarded to acknowledge heroic deeds in the face of the enemy. Foreigners chosen to receive the medal were recognized for their […]
Read moreOf the approximately 3,000 “Kiwis” who landed at ANZAC Cove on 25 April, about 20 percent had become casualties by the end of the day, signalling the beginning of a bitter and fierce campaign that would not see the Anzac’s leave until nine months later. The campaign cost the New Zealand Expeditionary Force some 7,500 […]
Read moreBy Alison Jones Three future generations of Brigadier Frank Leslie Hunt came to view his story recently in the latest Gallipoli exhibition “Ripping Yarns from the Peninsula“. Brig Hunt was a career soldier and his service with the New Zealand Army would span some 30 plus years – seeing active service during both World War […]
Read moreThe ‘battle scarred’ bugle and medal group of the young George Bissett who was killed during the early fighting at Gallipoli are among 20 special stories of ordinary New Zealanders in extraordinary circumstances currently on display in the museum’s latest exhibition “Gallipoli: Ripping Yarns from the Peninsula“. Bissett was only 20 years old when he […]
Read moreThomas Eyles, originally from Blenheim, was working as a motor mechanic for E.H.Best at the outbreak of WWI. Thomas had prior service with the Blenheim Rifle Volunteers and enlisted age 23 with the 12th (Nelson) Company, Canterbury Infantry Battalion on 14 August 1914. Thomas embarked from Lyttleton on 16 October 1914 aboard the Athenic, bound […]
Read moreSergeant Harry Barlow was presented with this pocket watch in recognition of his bravery at Gallipoli which saw him awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). Harry Barlow, originally a Miner from the South Island, enlisted with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion on 17 August 1914. He left for Egypt on 15 October 1914 and saw service at […]
Read moreCaptain Pirimi Pererika Tahiwi The 25th of April is a date still deep-rooted in the memory of all New Zealanders. It symbolises the start of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign but also the enduring day in history, known as Anzac Day. It was a campaign with a casualty rate of 7500 Kiwi troops injured, and 2721 killed. Amongst […]
Read moreLife as a medic in the 6th Field Ambulance was fraught with danger and for William Wilson of the Wairarapa, his role as a Medic on Crete may have contributed to his fate of spending much of the war as a prisoner in Stalag VIIIB. His signature can be found on display in the National […]
Read moreContributed by Grant Hays, Custodian Sergeant Errol Sampson Allison or Bill as he liked to be known, began World War II serving with the 20th Battalion 2NZEF (New Zealand Expeditionary Force) in both Greece and Crete before being captured by the Germans in North Africa, at Belhamed in December 1941. He ended up in Stalag […]
Read moreContributed by Grant Hays, Custodian New Zealand Coastwatchers who served in the Pacific during World War II were commemorated this October with the laying of a wreath at the National War Memorial in Wellington. The 15th October marks a day to remember when in 1942 on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, 17 New Zealand […]
Read moreWhen Japan entered World War II, one of the immediate effects was the increased threat level to New Zealand – no longer were we at the “utmost ends of the world” – our country was now a front line target. With so many Kiwi men still serving with the military in Europe, the Women’s Army […]
Read more18,000 New Zealanders lost their lives fighting on the Western Front during World War One. One of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, was Sergeant Dave Gallaher captain of the 1905 “Original All Blacks.” “Dave was a man of sterling worth … girded by great self-determination and self control. He was a valuable friend and […]
Read moreReginald Miles served with distinction in both world wars. He began his service in Gallipoli as a forward observation officer and was wounded, but returned to duty just before evacuation in December 1915. Following his marriage in Egypt, he served on the Somme in 1916 in command of 15 Howitzer Battery and was awarded a […]
Read moreKiwi soldier Harry Barlow landed at Gallipoli on the day that gave us the origin of ANZAC Day, 25 April 1915. Almost two months later while fighting at Quinn’s Post, one of the most advanced and dangerous ANZAC posts in Gallipoli, Barlow was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions. Quinns Post was the […]
Read moreSgt Charles Brown was one of only a few rugby players and soldiers who played for the All Blacks both before and after World War I, and his prized All Black cap is part of the National Army Museum’s collection. Like many rugby greats of his era, Brown interchanged his rugby jersey with a soldier’s […]
Read morePatrick ‘Pat’ Sheerin was born in Palmerston North in 1891 and at the outbreak of World War One, was working as a Printer for the Wellington based company Ferguson and Mitchell. Pat left for Egypt in October 1914 and in a letter to his mother, wrote. “We had a good run over and no sign […]
Read moreby Tessa Smallwood The night had been a long one. They had ridden in the darkness of the desert landscape for 45 kilometres. They needed to rest and they needed water but there was a mission laid out ahead of them; a mission that would determine the fate of many. Some of the people beside […]
Read moreWorld War One, All Black Rugby Roll of Honour, 11/448 Sergeant Henry Dewar. All Black wing forward or flanker in 1913, killed in the attack on Chunuk Bair, Gallipoli, 1915.
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