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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.

  • The Aussie and the Mademoiselle from Armentières

    Audio

    Pat Hanna's 1930 recording of the iconic World War One song Mademoiselle from Armentières continued the tradition of adapting the words of this famous song to reflect the different experiences of soldiers during the war. Hanna himself served with the Otago Regiment from New Zealand.

    Recorded in Australia on the Vocalion label, this version (with lyrics by Hanna), tells the story of an Australian “Digger” who falls for the French mademoiselle, only to leave her heartbroken when he is killed at Bullecourt (1917) in Northern France. It was a popular number performed as part of Hanna’s “Diggers” vaudeville concert party which toured Australia and New Zealand for many years after the war.

  • Entertaining the troops, “The Kiwis” concert party

    Audio

    The campaigns of the Western Front saw men serving in frontline combat positions in the trenches usually for a few days to a week at a time. In between, units were rotated back to ‘reserve’ positions several kilometres away from the Front, where boredom was yet another enemy to contend with.

    In an attempt to keep the troops entertained, concert parties were formed by the men, with names such as “The Pierrots”, “The Tuis” and “The Kiwis.”

    Bill McKeon, who served in the Wellington Infantry and had been in a concert party himself, had fond memories of “The Kiwis” and the high-quality shows they put on at Nieppe, near Armentieres in 1917, which he recalled in a radio interview with Neville Webber.

  • Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty

    Audio

    This song, in which a series of soldiers yearn to return to ‘Blighty’, or Britain, was hugely popular in 1917.

  • Never Mind the Food Controller

    Audio

    An uplifting music hall song, intended to provide comfort during wartime food rationing.

  • I’m Going Back Again to Yarrawonga

    Audio

    "I’ll linger longer in Yarrawonga"

  • The Rose of No Man’s Land

    Audio

    A sentimental song composed as a tribute to Red Cross battlefield nurses.

  • What Did You Do in the Great War, Daddy?

    Audio

    The subject of a child innocently shaming their father for failing to carry out military service was a commonly used theme of war propaganda.

  • Every Girl is a Fisher Girl

    Audio

    This rousing music hall song by Australian-born Florrie Forde, popular during WW1, suggests that every girl is ‘fishing for a mate’.

  • Anzac Hospitals at Home

    Video

    Returned servicemen engage in handicrafts, music-making and a degree of flirting with nurses while convalescing in an Anzac hospital.

  • The sound of the silents

    Audio

    Although there were no sound tracks recorded, or played, on films made during the First World War, audiences never watched films silently. In cinemas across Australia and New Zealand orchestras (which could mean anything from a single pianist to a full instrumental ensemble) provided music to accompany movies, and played as the audience entered and exited the cinema.

    Violet Donaldson (nee Capstick) worked for many years as a pianist at three cinemas in Timaru.  In this extract she recalls the “primitive conditions” in the theatres and also how she wrote and played tunes based on sheet music she listened to at the music shop she worked at, surprising returned servicemen who weren’t expecting to hear the latest in European music back home.

  • Projectionists, orchestras & silent films

    Audio

    Harry Kennedy was a long-time picture theatre manager in Timaru. In this interview, recorded on his retirement after decades working in showbiz, he recalls some of the challenges projectionists faced as well as the sounds that accompanied “silent films”. Sound effects were supplied by staff watching the action on screen, and orchestras, made up of “tip top” musicians”, played music to bring the movies to life.

  • Early newsreels: A 1915 Pathé Animated Gazette

    Video

    People went to cinemas during the war to be entertained, but moving-pictures also played an important role in providing cinema-goers with news and information from abroad. Early newsreels, or topical films, were an important part of the typical cinema programme of the time.

    This film is an example of a full-length Pathé Animated Gazette newsreel that was shown during the war. It demonstrates the contents of these types of films and how they mixed serious topics with more light-hearted footage: scenes of the Algerian Native Cavalry in Flanders, a brief glimpse of King George V and Queen Mary making their way through packed London Streets to a service at St Paul’s Cathedral, the opening of a New Zealand military hospital, and Zouaves (Algerian French Infantry).

  • "When We March Through Berlin Town"

    Audio

    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.

  • “Tell My Daddy to Come Home Again“

    Audio

    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.

  • ”The Tanks that Broke the Ranks”

    Audio

    Written and composed by English music hall writers Harry Castling and Harry Carlton,The Tanks that Broke the Ranks, was a popular music hall song celebrating the first use of tanks on the battlefield. The sheet music was released in December 1916, just three months after the first use of tanks in war by the British, during the Battle of the Somme.

    Although both sides regarded the tanks with interest and awe when first deployed, their success was mixed. Of the 49 tanks shipped to the Somme, only nine made it across ‘no man's land’ to the German lines.

    The song references many prominent German military leaders of the day, including Kaiser Wilhelm, Alfred von Tirpitz, Paul von Hindenburg and Prince Wilhelm. It was very popular in music halls in 1917. This recording was sung by internationally acclaimed Australian performer and recording artist Peter Dawson under the pseudonym ‘Will Strong,’ which he used for music hall recordings.

  • ‘It's a Long Way to Tipperary’

    Video

    In this animated film, a British soldier dodges bullets and explosions. He grits his teeth as he thinks, ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’. If you want to sing along, as cinema audiences did when it was presented, the lyrics are right there on the screen.

  • Seven Keys to Baldpate

    Video

    In Seven Keys to Baldpate, a silent film based on a stage farce, a struggling novelist undertakes to write a novel during 24 hours in the Baldpate Inn.  He thinks he has the only key but a succession of strangers arrives.

    Australian impresario J.C. Williamson had already produced several war-themed films when he turned to filming plays such as this ‘mystery farce’, his final film. The war films, with outdoor scenes and dramatic action, were apparently more successful than these filmed theatre productions with their quivering canvas sets. Ironically, being less popular may have protected them from being destroyed through repeated projection.

  • ‘Sons of Australia’

    Audio

    'Sons of Australia' was composed by Felix McGlennon in 1900, during Australia’s participation in the Second Boer War. It became popular again during the First World War, and this version was recorded in 1915.

  • ‘They Were There! There! There!’

    Audio

    The lyrics of the song ‘They Were There! There! There!’ were written by Private Harley Cohen shortly after his return from Gallipoli in September 1915. He was still recovering from wounds sustained during the Battle of Lone Pine.

  • ‘Only One of the Toys’

    Audio

    The dismal lyrics of ‘Only One of the Toys’ suggest that the soldier in question is merely a toy with no authority. He eventually dies on the battlefield, fulfilling the destiny he predicted to his son before leaving for war. Despite its gloomy subject, this 1914 song was surprisingly popular in its day.

  • ‘Heroes of the Dardanelles’

    Audio

    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.

  • Wrestling on deck

    Video

    This film was made during the New Zealand convoy’s 1915 journey from Wellington to Egypt, via Hobart and Colombo. On long voyages like this, an especially popular way for soldiers to spend their free time was watching wrestling bouts. Here the crowd watches intently as two soldiers, possibly former professional wrestlers, come to grips on the deck of the troopship. This appears to be a “worked”, or staged, bout, rather than a genuine contest. Gambling was prohibited on board troopships, but it seems highly likely that money changed hands on this occasion.

  • The fleet's afloat

    Audio

    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.

  • 'When the war is over, mother dear'

    Audio

    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 dear

    In 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.

  • The landing of the Australian troops in Egypt

    Audio

    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.

  • 'If England wants a hand, well, here it is'

    Audio

    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.

  • Boys of the Dardanelles

    Audio

    Boys of the Dardanelles
    They faced the shot and the shells
    Down in hist'ry their fame will go

    The 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.

  • Australia will be there

    Audio

    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 '.

  • 'Soldier sentry of the foam'

    Audio

    After taking part in major naval battles at Heliogland Bight, Dogger Bank and Jutland, the gifted battler cruiser HMS New Zealand returned to New Zealand after the war. This song was written in honour of her triumphant 1919 tour by Margaret Sinclair (lyrics) and Bert Rache (music).