New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF)

'We didn’t know where we were going. We were just going to the war that was all.' — Private Robert Anderson, Otago Infantry Battalion

The Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was mobilised in August 1914 on the outbreak of war. Preliminary instructions were sent out at the end of July because New Zealand had anticipated and planned for such an event since the formation of the Territorial Force in 1909. Indeed New Zealand had never been better prepared for war than any time before or since. A 1400-strong Advance Party under the command of Colonel Robert Logan was raised at the same time from the Auckland and Wellington Territorial battalions. It sailed on two hastily prepared troopships His Majesty’s New Zealand Transports (HMNZT) No.1 and 2 being the S S Moeraki and Monowai. A film shows the coaling and preparation of these ships. We see the number ‘2’ painted on Monowai’s side. They sailed from King’s Wharf, Wellington on 12 August and made an unopposed landing at Apia, German Samoa on 29 August 1914

The Main Body of the NZEF consisted of an infantry brigade of four battalions, a mounted rifles brigade of three regiments, an independent mounted rifles regiment, artillery, engineers, signallers, medical and supply with a divisional headquarters commanded by Major-General Sir Alexander Godley. This was mobilised from the four military districts, Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago and assembled at camps in each district. Alexander Park in Auckland; Awapuni Racecourse in Palmerston North; Addington Park in Christchurch; and Tahuna Park in Dunedin.

Each mounted rifleman brought his own horse and saddle into camp, where, if accepted, it was bought by the Government. The NZEF totalled 8,427 personnel and 3,815 horses. Film exists of the mobilisation parades in Dunedin, Auckland and Wellington. One sees the anticipation on the faces of the soldiers and the strained faces of the spectators. There is also a film of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment marching down Queen Street before sailing, their horses being already on board ship.

The ten transports sailed from Wellington on 16 October 1914. The S S Waimana’s captain had a movie camera. His film of shipboard life, of the Auckland Infantry Battalion on the wharf at Albany, Western Australia and the sailing of the ships from King George’s Sound in 1 November 1914. It was shown in New Zealand theatres in January 1915 and became one of the most widely screened films that year. At the same time a Gaumont newsreel showed New Zealanders who enlisted in London for the NZEF marching in the Lord Mayor’s Show.

In Egypt the NZEF joined with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) to form the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). It was hard training in the desert sands. Film survives of the New Zealanders parading before sailing for Gallipoli in April 1915. It also shows members of the 500-strong Native Contingent, who had just arrived in Egypt, performing a haka. They would sail for Malta and not join the NZEF on Gallipoli until July 1915.

F T E

Farewelling troops in Wellington

This rare film records a civic ceremony...

Bright blades flickering into straw-filled sacks

As part of their full 16-week training ...

Dogs of war - the ‘Aucklands’ on parade

After six weeks in training camp, the Auckla...

An army marches on its stomach

Raising the main body of the NZEF was a...

A sea of faces say goodbye in Dunedin

Tahuna Park in Dunedin was the initial ...

Dust in our ears, eyes, mouth, nose and everywhere

In late 1914 the New Zealand and Austra...

The Anzac convoy departs from Albany

The Main Body of the NZ Expeditionary For...

Wrestling on deck

This film was made during the New Zealand&nb...

Tea for two, and an unknown soldier

In the war years, home movie-making in New&n...

Readying the Samoan Expeditionary Force

When war was declared in August 1914, N...

From Queen Street to the front

Although the details are uncertain, this bri...

Haka in the Sand / He Haka He Onepu

The First Māori Contingent are seen in Egypt...

Heroes of Gallipoli

Heroes of Gallipoli contains t...

Household pets join the forces

Ena Ryan of Wellington was a young girl ...

Good to Go / E pai ana, Ka haere

The Second Māori Contingent is shown pa...

Swimming with Birdie at Gallipoli

As the weather warmed up on Gallipoli d...

Treating Gallipoli’s wounded – Dr Agnes Bennett

The Australian-born and New Zealand-bas...

'Soldier sentry of the foam'

After taking part in major naval battles at ...

Teenage soldiers and a boat full of blood

Seventeen-year-old Daniel Patrick (Pat) Lloy...

Australia’s submarine at Gallipoli

In the early hours of 25 April 1915, Ro...

The First Anzac at Gallipoli

Britain’s Royal Navy was in charge of l...

The Daisy Patch

Joseph Gasparich was a gumdigger and sc...

“What about a drop of water, Digger?”

Water shortages were a constant problem...

"War is lunacy": The burial armistice

On 24 May 1915, both sides on Gallipoli agre...

The last month I was there, I never wore trousers

The Anzac troops on Gallipoli faced man...

No bayonet needed / E hara te pēneti i mau

Captain Pirimi Tahiwi of Te Hokowhitu a Tū, ...

Seasick men and horses

Twenty-three-year-old Auckland telegraphist ...

The rush to enlist

Leonard Leary was a law student at Vict...

Poor old soldiers, both two-legged and four-legged

Horses were among the unsung heroes of ...

“All my mates ever got were wooden crosses”

Corporal Cyril Bassett was the only New...

Ex-pat Kiwis march in the London Lord Mayor’s Show

In November 1914 the annual London Lord ...

Training at Trentham

The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZ...

New Zealand soldiers recover from battle wounds

After being wounded in battle, many Anz...

Māori and Pacific Islanders march to war

On Saturday 5 February 1916, the 3rd Mā...

Trentham Military Training Camp

This film shows a panoramic view of Trentham...

The walking wounded return home

New Zealand soldiers board a ship. It m...

A narrow escape at Lone Pine

This eyewitness account by a Gallipoli ...

Getting the message through at Chunuk Bair

Lance Corporal Cyril Bassett, an Auckla...

“Every one of those lads was lying dead”

Dunedin-born Charles Duke was working in Aus...

Wounded at Chunuk Bair

The battle for Chunuk Bair was one of the bl...

Machine gunners at Chunuk Bair

Leonard Leary was an ammunition handler...

Gallipoli’s wounded return to Wellington

On 15 July 1915 the transport ship Will...

“We left a lot of booby traps behind…”

From 18 to 20 December 1915, the Allies retr...

Maggots and brandy – evacuating wounded men

Facilities for evacuating and treating men w...

Battle in the Blizzard

In late 1915, towards the end of the Ga...

Diggers in the tunnels of Quinn’s Post

The underground war at Gallipoli was fought&...

"The toughest part of the war was lack of sleep"

Coupled with the lack of shelter or wat...

Leaving Gallipoli

From 18 to 20 December 1915, the Allies retr...

"Shine, Sir?" Kiwi Boot Polish advertisment

In this groundbreaking early cinema ad,...

The Empire’s Troops

Nearly three million troops from the colonie...

“The horrible smell of burnt flesh”

Wellington-born William Fell was a 19-year-o...

‘Great soldiers, good fellows’

The Victoria College Officers’ Training Corp...

Starting the New Zealand RSA

Many men who had been invalided back to New ...

First day on the Somme for Kiwis and tanks

On the 15th of September 1916, the New ...

A dead teenager and life on the Somme

Like many young men, New Zealander Jim ...

Steeds and shellfire on the Western Front

The horses that were sent to the Wester...

Going ‘over the top’ at Messines by John A. Lee

On 7th June 1917, New Zealand Labour politi...

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