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A matter of principle
Audio
Duncan McCormack was a working-class socialist. At the outbreak of World War I, he determined that he would not participate in what he later called a “fight to redistribute the spoils of colonialism.” When conscription was introduced, he ignored his call-up papers and was eventually arrested by the military police. Here he describes the cycle of military camp, court martial, prison and hard labour which conscientious objectors were subjected to for the remaining duration of the war and beyond. As his second prison sentence was for two years, he was kept in prison even after the war ended.
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War Fever
Audio
At the outbreak of the war, a commonly expressed concern was the need to enlist quickly in case the fighting ended before New Zealand forces could take part in what was widely imagined to be a great adventure. On August 8 1914, just four days after war was declared, the Evening Post newspaper reported that nearly 600 men in Wellington City had already volunteered for war service. George Davies was a schoolboy growing up in the working class Wellington suburb of Newtown. He recalls the enthusiasm to enlist among the men he knew.
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Schoolgirl life and love during the war
Audio
There was a sharp divide between rich and poor in New Zealand at the time of the First World War. Marjorie Lees, the daughter of an upper-class Wellington family, was attending boarding school in 1914. Young women of her social status faced a restricted life, with very few options apart from marriage once they left school. But like young people from all walks of life, she was soon to experience the heartbreak of war.