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  • Te Hokinga Mai Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū

    Video

    Look at the smiling soldiers, jam-packed along the ship’s rail, the Māori Pioneer Battalion is home at last.

    After a 36-day journey from Liverpool, the SS Westmoreland arrived in Auckland harbour on the evening of Saturday 5 April 1919. It berthed the following morning and 1,033 personnel disembarked to great fanfare – guns fired a salute, all the ships in the harbour sounded their sirens and horns, three bands played patriotic music and dignitaries greeted the men with brief speeches.

    Renowned Te Arawa leader Mita Taupopoki can be seen with his distinctive tāniko bonnet towards the end of the film clip. One of the haka being performed is the Ngāpuhi war cry “Ka eke te wīwī, ka eke te wāwā” – complete with the leaping in unison and brandishing of taiaha and tewhatewha fighting staffs.

    Following the reception at the wharf the Battalion marched to a pōwhiri at Auckland Domain. Tribes from all over the country gathered to welcome the men home, along with thousands of spectators.

    Of the 43,572 servicemen and nurses who returned home in 63 demobilisation sailings, only the Māori Pioneer Battalion returned together, as a complete unit.

  • A Carefully Arranged Propaganda Exercise

    Video

    Keeping his father’s promise that his eldest son and heir would visit “when peace comes”, Edward Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), undertook a tour of the Dominions to thank them for their effort and participation in World War One.

    The Prince spent a month in Aotearoa, arriving in Auckland onboard the Renown. He toured the country in a lavishly decorated train and by motor coach. In total he visited 50 towns and cities between Auckland and Invercargill. The “dashing playboy” was mobbed by enthusiastic crowds wherever he went and is said to have shaken more than 20,000 hands.

    In Auckland the Prince is presented with the 'Freedom of the City' by the Mayor and is given a guard of honour by returned soldiers. In Rotorua, guided by Māui Pōmare, the Prince shakes hands with members of Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū – the Māori Pioneer Battalion. Later he attended a huge reception at the Racecourse.

  • Training NZ’s first fighter pilots

    Audio

    George Bolt, Howard Coverdale and Mr Ross share their experiences as engineers, trainees and flight trainers at the Walsh brothers’ New Zealand Flying School in Auckland, 1915. The school, New Zealand’s first, graduated over 80 pilots during the war, with about one-third of them arriving overseas in time to see action in the air with the Royal Flying Corps or the Royal Naval Air Service.

  • The nimble “Scout Experimental”

    Audio

    Legendary New Zealand fighter pilot Keith “Grid” Caldwell, engaged in more fights, for his time in the air, than any other pilot in WW I. He also commanded one of the most successful fighter units, No 74 ‘Tiger’ Squadron. In this interview excerpt he describes the capabilities of the British fighter biplane, the “Scout Experimental” or formally, Royal Aircraft Factory S.E. 5.

  • Hinemoa

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    'The first big dramatic work filmed and acted in the land of the Moa,' was Hinemoa (1914), New Zealand's first feature.

    With a budget of £50, George Tarr directed Hinemoa over eight hectic days in Rotorua. Hera Tawhai and her husband Rua starred along with the Reverend Bennett's Maori Choir Party. With the film almost complete but the budget gone, George Tarr headed to Auckland to show it to his investors and distributor Mr Hayward. They loved it. Hayward wanted to show it immediately on 'the same terms as I'm paying now for Antony and Cleopatra.'

    Hinemoa premiered at the Lyric Theatre, Auckland on 17 August 1914, during the first weeks of World War I. With only one print producer George Tarr travelled the film around the country for 5 months – doing good business.

  • A dead teenager and life on the Somme

    Audio

    Like many young men, New Zealander Jim Warner lied about his age to enlist in World War I and found himself going into action on the Somme with the Auckland Infantry at the age of 18. 

    In this excerpt from a lengthy interview he recorded with Radio New Zealand reporter Andrew McRae in 1982, he recalls the conditions, the death of his 16-year-old friend and the shattered landscape of northern France which had been shelled heavily by the time the New Zealanders arrived in September 1916.

  • Singing about Niuean soldiers who volunteered

    Audio

    The song ‘Lologo tau kautau Niue ne oatu he Felakutau Fakamua he Lalolagi’ was sung by the men from the Pacific island of Niue who volunteered to join New Zealand’s Māori Contingent in 1916. They served in France alongside Maori troops in the newly formed Pioneer Battalion, and suffered greatly from conditions colder than they had ever imagined.

  • Leaving Gallipoli

    Audio

    From 18 to 20 December 1915, the Allies retreated from the Gallipoli peninsula. In the days beforehand, rumours of their impending departure produced mixed feelings in the men. After months of the hardships of war, they were reluctant to leave the resting place of their fallen pals. Had it all been in vain? In this compilation, three veterans remember the evacuation of Gallipoli.

  • Battle in the Blizzard

    Audio

    In late 1915, towards the end of the Gallipoli campaign, a fierce snowstorm struck the peninsula. Allied soldiers fought the Turkish army while enduring rain, sleet and snow which caused severe frostbite and froze the trenches. In these radio interviews, three New Zealand veterans recall the living conditions and their experiences in the blizzard.

  • Māori and Pacific Islanders march to war

    Video

    On Saturday 5 February 1916, the 3rd Māori Contingent of Reinforcements and others made their way from Parliament along Lambton Quay to their departure point at Wellington’s waterfront. Members of the Māori Contingent are easily identified by their uniform of pith helmet, shorts, putties (a long strip of cloth around the lower leg) and lack of ammunition pouches, which distinguished them from the ‘lemon squeezer’ hat and full uniform of the other troops. The idea of engaging in a battle in foreign lands so far from home must have raised excitement as well as doubt as the Māori Contingent headed for the challenge and conflict of World War One.

    Troops from several South Pacific countries formed part of the 3rd Maori Contingent. Among them was Sergeant-Major Uea of Lalofetau, Niue. He had helped to encourage support for the war effort and was the oldest of the Niuean volunteers who sailed that day.

  • New Zealand soldiers recover from battle wounds

    Video

    After being wounded in battle, many Anzac soldiers were shipped to England to recover. Once their injuries healed, they were sent to convalescent camps around the country to restore them to fighting fitness. This short film shows New Zealanders at a convalescent camp taking part in training exercises to improve their fitness. As the film shows, training was not all hard work, and they certainly had some fun at the camps.

  • Getting the message through at Chunuk Bair

    Audio

    Lance Corporal Cyril Bassett, an Auckland bank clerk serving as a signaller in the Auckland Infantry Battalion, won New Zealand’s only Victoria Cross on Gallipoli. It was awarded not for fighting but for his bravery in repeatedly going out under fire to repair telephone lines which carried the vital signals from HQ to the men fighting in the front lines.

    In the Battle of Chunuk Bair in early August 1915, Bsssett and several other signallers, including his good mate Cecil Whitaker, repaired lines again and again while men fell and died around them. As Cyril recalls in this 1959 interview, one bullet shot out the pocket of his tunic and another grazed his collar, but he was otherwise unharmed. His friend Cecil was not so lucky and was badly wounded, dying a few days later.

  • HMS New Zealand arrives in Auckland

    Video

    When HMS New Zealand visited the City of Sails in late April 1913, tens of thousands of Aucklanders turned out to welcome her both on land and, as this film shows, at sea. 

    The film captures the size of the battleship as it steamed into Rangitoto Channel towards the port. The New Zealand Herald newspaper memorably described its “three massive funnels, then all the huge grey bulk of battle-cruiser... sullenly majestic, awful in portent, relentless as death itself.” Waitemata Harbour is shown packed with at least 200 spectator craft full of curious men and women and laden in bunting: “… ferry-boats and steamers crowded on their sterns, intrepid men and boys lugged at the oars of tiny dinghies and rowing boats, rowers in outriggers joined in the procession until so great was the traffic of the bewildering array of craft that the water was churned into white-crested waves and the smaller craft were tossed about like so many corks.”

  • Good to Go / E pai ana, Ka haere

    Video

    The Second Māori Contingent is shown parading at Narrow Neck Training Camp in Auckland before leaving for the front on the SS Waitemata on 19 September 1915. According to the waiata “Te Ope Tuatahi”, composed by Apirana Ngata, the recruits of the Second Contingent were drawn mainly from the East Coast tribes of Ngāti Mahaki, Ngāti Hauiti and descendants of Porourangi. Among them was Second Lieutenant Hēnare Mōkena Kōhere of Ngāti Porou. Kōhere died of wounds on 16 September 1916 following the Battle of the Somme. He is mentioned in the sixth verse of “Te Ope Tuatahi” with the phrase: I haere ai Hēnare, I patu ki te pakanga, Ki Para-nihi ra ia. ("Farewell, O Hēnare,Me tō wiwi, and your 'clump of rushes' who fell while fighting in France". The ‘clump of rushes’ is thought to refer to the men under Kohere’s command who died alongside him.)

  • From Queen Street to the front

    Video

    Although the details are uncertain, this brief film clip shows the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment marching down Queen Street on 22 September 1914, after a civic farewell at the Auckland Domain. The New Zealand Herald newspaper reported that “[f]lags were waved, and lusty cheers were given as the troops passed”. These scenes were later included in the 1928 Australian film The Exploits of the Emden. The original footage, like much film from that era, is now long lost.

  • King George V inspects HMS New Zealand

    Video

    The battleship HMS New Zealand was a gift to Britain’s navy from the people of New Zealand. The day before the ship departed on a tour of the colonies, it was visited by King George V, an old sailor himself. The King was particularly interested in the 12-inch guns, and navigation equipment. The Dominion newspaper reported that “His Majesty was greatly amused at the decorations of the gun-room, which… somewhat resembled a lady's boudoir [bedroom]." (7 February 1913, p.5).  New Zealand-born officers on the ship were introduced to the King and he met the ship's mascot, Pelorus Jack, a bulldog puppy who can be briefly seen in this clip.

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

    Video

    In late 1914 the New Zealand and Australian forces were diverted from their original destination of England to Egypt. There they combined to form the ANZAC Corps that would eventually fight in the Gallipoli campaign. This film shows an activity that became a routine part of soldiers’ life - the troop inspection.

    As well as the blazing Egyptian heat, the ANZAC troops had another menace to contend with – dust. Herbert Hart wrote in his diary “[t]he sand is worked into such fine dust near camp, that it now flies everywhere whenever the troops move over it. We had dust in our ears, eyes, mouth, nose and everywhere, it fell from our puggarees [cloth wrapped around the regulation sun helmets], pouches, pockets, putties [long cloth strips wrapped around the calves] or from all our clothes.”

  • The Anzac convoy departs from Albany

    Video

    The Main Body of the NZ Expeditionary Force steamed off from Wellington on 16 October 1914. The convoy consisted of 10 transport ships and four escorts, carrying 8000 soldiers and nearly 4000 horses. They arrived in Albany on 28 October to join up with 28 Australian Imperial Force troopships. The combined Anzac fleet of 38 troopships and escorts, carrying 30,000 soldiers and 7,500 horses, departed Albany on 1 November.

    This film shows soldiers of the Auckland Infantry Battalion ready to embark on Albany Wharf, and the line of grey-painted New Zealand troopships waiting to follow the Australian convoy ships (which retained their civilian colours). This vast fleet took soldiers from Australia and New Zealand halfway around the world to participate in the First World War.

  • The rush to enlist

    Audio

    Leonard Leary was a law student at Victoria College (now Victoria University) when war was declared in August 1914. Fiercely patriotic, he was among the men who rushed to sign up to fight at the earliest opportunity. In this extract from a 1982 radio documentary, Leary recalls the heady days when war broke out. He headed down to the Wellington wharves with a group of fellow pro-Empire students to express his support for the war effort, and to enlist in the NZEF.

  • An army marches on its stomach

    Video

    Raising the main body of the NZEF was a huge logistical exercise and needed to be done quickly. By early August 1914 the first recruits arrived at training camps established in the four military regions across the country (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Otago-Southland). One of the most important tasks, beside basic training, was housing and feeding the new troops.

    Tahuna Park in Dunedin was chosen as the initial training camp for the Otago-Southland region. This rare ‘behind the scenes’ footage shows the work of the tin shed cookhouse set up to feed the 1100 men camped there. The Cook Sergeant, with a bandaged arm, orders around the cookhouse fatigues (work teams). Notice how everyone is puffing away on pipes or cigarettes, adding extra fibre, flavour and aroma to the camp stew!

  • Auckland Cup, 1912

    Video

    In 1912 Ellerslie was still a young suburb of Auckland, with a population of only around a thousand. It was also the home of the racecourse, and people streamed in from all over the city to watch the Auckland Cup, then New Zealand’s richest horse race. This film shows the Australian horse Bobrikoff taking the 1912 Cup.

    With few private cars, and public transport still in its infancy, most of these punters would have arrived by train. Horse-racing was for many years one of the most popular forms of entertainment in New Zealand. The First World War did not interrupt the running of the Auckland Cup, although there would have been significantly fewer men at race meetings during 1914-1918.

  • The Daisy Patch

    Audio

    Joseph Gasparich was a gumdigger and school teacher before he joined the Auckland Infantry Battalion. In May 1915 he was serving with the combined Australian and New Zealand forces at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli. General Sir Ian Hamilton decided to try and break through to the south of the Gallipoli peninsula, and New Zealand and Australian infantrymen were sent to Cape Helles by ferry. On 8 May the New Zealanders launched a series of attacks across an open field of poppies and daisies. In 1968 Joe Gasparich recorded his memories of the unsuccessful attacks in the Daisy Patch. “It was absolute murder – or suicide, whichever way you like to look at it.”

  • Seasick men and horses

    Audio

    Twenty-three-year-old Auckland telegraphist (signaller) Cyril Bassett sailed for the war in October 1914 with the Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Cyril was on board the battleship Waimana, with the rank of orderly corporal. In this 1976 interview, he recalls that during the long sea voyage. his job was to clean up after seasick men and horses. However, in August 1915 Bassett won the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery in the Allied forces, for maintaining communication lines under fire during the Battle of Chunuk Bair.

  • The First Anzac at Gallipoli

    Audio

    Britain’s Royal Navy was in charge of landing the first Australians and New Zealanders at Gallipoli on April 25 1915. From their troop transport ships, the men were loaded into smaller boats which were towed as close to the beach as possible. The steam-powered ‘picket’ boats which towed them were commanded by teenage Navy midshipmen like 15-year-old Eric Bush, who was responsible for getting about 200 Anzacs ashore. Among the first Australians to land was Private James Bostock, who recalls how he jumped overboard and waded onto the beach at what would soon be known as Anzac Cove. Both men were recorded in 1955 for a BBC radio documentary marking the 40th anniversary of the landings.

  • Verdun Buns – a Red Cross cookbook

    Audio

    Ena Ryan was born in the prosperous Wellington suburb of Kelburn in 1908. In this 1985 interview she leafs through a cookbook produced during the war as a fundraiser for the Red Cross.  The recipes and advertisements reveal the social upheaval the war brought to communities back home, from florists advertising speedy service for last-minute weddings (before men departed overseas) to recipes for cooking for invalids. Some recipes were contributed by the public, and Ena is appalled that one woman named her recipe ‘Verdun buns’, after the horrifingly destructive 1916 Battle of Verdun.

  • Dogs of war - the ‘Aucklands’ on parade

    Video

    After six weeks in training camp, the Auckland section of the Main Body of the NZEF was reviewed by Minister of Defence James Allen at Auckland’s Alexandra Park on 19 September 1914. This film shows the men of the Auckland Infantry Regiment, the Mounted Rifles, the Motorcycle Corps and and the Field Ambulance, in full battle equipment. Watch out for the dogs who also take starring roles, running in and out of shot. Films of this period often show dogs accompanying New Zealand troops, both at home and overseas.

  • Turning boys into soldiers

    Video

    Compulsory military training was established in New Zealand in 1909, and by 1912 all boys aged 14 and over were required to undertake military drills as Senior Cadets. From the age of 18 to 21 they were required to serve in the Territorial Forces. In the process boys were turned into soldiers, since the Territorials formed the recruiting basis of the NZ Expeditionary Force.

    This film shows just how young this element of the Expeditionary Force was. Some very youthful-looking members of the Canterbury Territorials, and possibly Cadets as well, are seen marching into Christchurch around 1914.