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Hospital Blues
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This brief clip shows soldiers feeding hens and gathering eggs in an unidentified New Zealand hospital in 1918 in the United Kingdom. Their lemon squeezer hats identify them as New Zealanders and their uniforms further identify them as hospital patients. Known as the “hospital blues” (also as convalescent blues, or hospital undress) the single-breasted suit and trousers uniform was made out of flannel material of an Oxford-Blue colour, with a white shirt and red tie.
The hospital blues served a number of functions and were important within the hospital environment. In the first instance, they were a replacement for dirty and often infested uniforms and therefore helped to improve hygiene and cleanliness. They were also a way to distinguish the patients from doctors, nurses and visitors and enabled the administration to maintain discipline and rank. The hospital blues also worked as a form of social control, as publicans were not allowed to sell liquor to men in the blues.
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Three cheers for the Prince!
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A camera positioned opposite Australia House on The Strand in London, captures Australian troops on parade for Anzac Day, 1919. The vast number of Australian troops is some indication of the scale of Australia's contribution to the war effort.
The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) stands on the raised platform, taking the salute. With him are Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig to the right and HRH Prince Albert (later King George VI) further back, next to Lieutenant General Sir William R Birdwood (left). Also featured on the stand are Billy Hughes (Prime Minister of Australia); Andrew Fisher (Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom); Sir Thomas McKenzie (New Zealand High Commissioner to the United Kingdom); Sir Joseph Cook and Senator Pearce (the Australian Minister for Defence).
The parade ends with Australian and New Zealand troops and British citizens pushing forward and mobbing the Prince of Wales with three cheers!
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Invested at Buckingham Palace
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London – 3 May 1919 – crowds gather outside Buckingham Palace in London for an investiture by his Majesty King George V. Among the nurses and soldiers receiving awards and honours is a smartly dressed New Zealand officer in his lemon squeezer hat.
On the dais are Queen Mary and members of the royal household. In front stand Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig and his Generals – Plumer and Sir William Birdwood. Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for War, stands proudly in morning suit and top hat.
After the ceremony, the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) Depot Band march past, followed by the New Zealand Parade Commander. Behind them are the New Zealand Field Artillery – note the infantry with their rifles and bayonets. Next, the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) march past. Mounted officers of the AIF and the Australian Light Horse trot by, and the crowd cheers and waves, then the AIF band march past – they are marching easy – and are followed by the Australian infantry.
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Back to Blighty
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An ambulance arrives at a New Zealand General Hospital and medical orderlies unload wounded soldiers. Around them are wounded men in various states of recovery – note the number of walking sticks and amputees. All of the patients are dressed in “hospital blues” – a uniform worn by all hospital soldiers in the United Kingdom. Under the Defence of the Realm Act it was forbidden for Public Houses to sell liquor to a soldier in hospital blues.
Can you help us identify the hospital? We know it is a New Zealand General Hospital, so it is either Brockenhurst or Walton-on-Thames. Please contact us if can you help us.
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Amusing sports events
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Scenes from the “Strawberry Fete” held at Torquay in Devon in the United Kingdom on Alexandra Day, Wednesday 27 June 1917. Promoted by the Four Allied Trades: Dairymen, Fruiterers, Grocers and Bakers, the fete was both a fundraiser and a morale booster.
Pictured here are New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) personnel, nurses and locals participating in games and novelty races, including blindfolded races, crawling races, wheelbarrow races and apple-eating competitions. Soldiers, too injured to participate, look on.
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Anzac football in London
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During their war service, Australian troops organised Australian Rules football matches across Europe. The highest profile matches were played in the United Kingdom but one-off matches were also played in other countries, including Belgium and France in 1919.
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First English hospital for wounded Kiwis
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The New Zealand Military Hospital at Walton-on-Thames was the first English hospital to be established for Kiwi soldiers during the First World War. It was officially opened on Saturday 31 July 1915, in a ceremony attended by “one of the largest gatherings of New Zealanders that has ever assembled" in the UK. (Evening Post, 24 September 1915, p.4)
This film clip shows NZ High Commissioner Thomas Mackenzie and William Lord Plunket at the hospital’s official opening ceremony on 31 July 1915. Lord Plunket was a former Governor of New Zealand and the chair of the NZ War Contingent Association, formed on London at the outbreak of the war to support wounded NZ troops. The Association helped to select the hospital premises, and its members later visited convalescing patients.
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"When We March Through Berlin Town"
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When We March Through Berlin Town is a jaunty tune clearly aimed to lift the spirits the troops and encourage men to enlist. The soldier at the centre of the song says farewell to his sweetheart, Jeannie, because the King of England is needing ‘laddies big and broad’. He assures Jeannie that he will wear her sprig of heather in his old Scotch cap when they defeat the Germans and occupy Berlin. The tone of the song is one of supreme optimism.
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“Tell My Daddy to Come Home Again“
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The songs sung by music hall artists during the First World War were often filled with war fever and patriotism. Propaganda messages promoted through song could appeal both emotionally as well as rationally and had the added benefit of being easily remembered and repeated by the average citizen. Tell My Daddy to Come Home Again: The Evening News Lonely Soldiers Song, recorded by Stanely Kirkby in 1915, is one such song, with lyrics written from the perspective of a child lamenting their father who has gone off to war.
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“Brave Women Who Wait”
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For the war effort to be successful, it was not only men who needed to be recruited. The women on the home front also had to show their commitment, so they were also the target of propaganda campaigns. Brave Women Who Wait reminds the general population that while the men may be dying on the battlefields, the women were also making sacrifices at home.
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"All the Boys in Khaki Get the Nice Girls"
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This light-hearted recruitment tune composed in 1915 by Tom Mellor and Harry Gifford was a British wartime hit and claimed a uniform was all it took to attract 'nice' girls
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"Advance, Australia Fair"
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Written by Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick and first performed in1878, Advance Australia Fair was officially declared the national anthem by the Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen, on 19 April 1984. This version is one of the earliest recordings, thought to be made in 1915, when Australian troops were landing in Egypt.
Despite it’s status as the official national anthem, Waltzing Matilda (1895), a more uplifting tune with lyrics by Banjo Paterson telling the story of a criminal stealing a sheep, is still widely regarded as Australia’s ‘unofficial’ national anthem.
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‘Only a Sinner’
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Only a Sinner was written and recorded some years before the First World War. Despite its rather plodding and mournful tune it is easy to imagine that religious hymns like this became popular again once men found themselves confronted by the horrors of modern warfare.
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"Shine, Sir?" Kiwi Boot Polish advertisment
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In this groundbreaking early cinema ad, Boot Room staff at London’s Imperial Hotel depart to join the Army, leaving the hotel short-staffed. Two boys offer to tackle the guests’ footwear. Thanks to the Kiwi Polish bought for them by a kind Australian soldier, they polish and buff their way into employment.
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The walking wounded return home
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New Zealand soldiers board a ship. It may be a hospital ship returning them to New Zealand, as some of the men are visibly wounded, using crutches and walking sticks. A civilian woman can be seen in the opening frames, indicating that this scene may have been shot in England.
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‘Heroes of the Dardanelles’
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The Gallipoli campaign inspired a number of patriotic songs like this one, that helped to build the Anzac legend back home and give Australia an independent identity from Britain.
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New Zealand soldiers recover from battle wounds
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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.
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King George V inspects HMS New Zealand
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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.
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Readying the Samoan Expeditionary Force
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When war was declared in August 1914, New Zealand was asked by the British Government to capture German Samoa. A Samoan Expeditionary Force made up of just over 1300 soldiers, mostly from the Wellington region, departed for the Samoan capital, Apia, on 15 August. Little resistance was met when the troops landed a fortnight later, and a New Zealand military administration occupied Samoa over the course of the war.
No footage of the New Zealand occupation of Samoa exists. However, this is footage of the two troopships, S.S. Monowai and S.S. Moeraki, which transported the Samoan Expeditionary Force. While the provenance of this film is unknown, the fact that the transport ships are still in civilian colours, a "2" is evident on the side of one of them (the troopship number), the dress of the sentry and the presence of a 12 pound gun suggests that it shows a glimpse of the preparation on Wellington’s waterfront for New Zealand’s first action during the war.
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The fleet's afloat
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Prior to radio, songs were largely heard performed in music halls. People would then visit music shops to purchase the sheet music of tunes they liked. Many homes had a piano, and at least one member of the family knew how to play it, providing a common form of entertainment and socialization. Music shop owners would often employ a pianist to perform during business hours so customers could hear the sheet music played live. If a song was particularly popular, it would then be recorded by professional musicians.
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'When the war is over, mother dear'
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Though your heart is aching, mother dear
For your soldier boy never fear
I’ll come back some day, and kiss your tears away
When the war is over, mother dearIn this somewhat maudlin song, written and recorded in England in 1915, a soldier laments being far away from home and from his mother, and promises to return to her.
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The landing of the Australian troops in Egypt
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This commercial sound recording includes what might be the first recorded version of 'Advance Australia Fair', the song that became Australia's national anthem. In music and drama, this production recreates the 1914 arrival of the Australian troops in Egypt, before their departure for Gallipoli. It may have been aimed at giving those on the home front a sense of the soldiers’ lives. The recording is very celebratory and full of pride at the role Australia was playing in the Great War.
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'If England wants a hand, well, here it is'
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Comes a message o’er the ocean
A message to our sunny land
England calls Australia’s soldiers
We must answer her command
If England wants a hand, well, here it is…The lyrics of this rousing, patriotic ballad were written by one of Australia’s most popular vaudeville (music hall) performers, with music by a noted Sydney songwriter. 'If England Wants a Hand, Well, Here It Is' was used on the soundtrack of the 1981 Australian feature film Gallipoli.
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Boys of the Dardanelles
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Boys of the Dardanelles
They faced the shot and the shells
Down in hist'ry their fame will goThe patriotic ballad ‘ Boys of the Dardanelles ', composed by Australian writer and singer Marsh Little, was particularly effective for encouraging recruitment. This version was performed by the prolific English singer and recording artist Stanley Kirkby.
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Australia will be there
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Of all the patriotic songs of WW1, 'Australia Will Be There' is probably the one best known to Australians. It became the marching song of the Australian Expeditionary Forces and was used to rally the troops as they marched away from home. 'Australia Will Be There' was written in 1915 by Walter ‘Skipper’ Francis. The song quotes from ‘ Auld Lang Syne’ in its chorus and is often given its longer title, 'For Auld Land Syne - Australia Will Be There '.