Two hospital ships were commissioned for the war effort by the Governor, Lord Liverpool, and funded in part by the people of New Zealand. The ships, Marama and Maheno, were both formerly passenger ships of the Union Steam Ship Company. They were painted white with large red crosses, clearly marking them as hospital ships to avoid being targeted by enemy torpedoes.

Both ships voyaged from New Zealand to the Europe, ferrying wounded from the battlefields of Gallipoli and the Western Front to England and, for those unable to return to active service, back home to New Zealand.

Life on board the ships was often crowded and uncomfortable, particularly on the short journeys from France to England when the ships would often be crammed well beyond capacity. However, compared with conditions the trenches or in field hospitals behind the front line, shipboard life was luxury. Masseurs, orderlies and most of the troops were housed in the former third-class accommodation, while the doctors, nurses and officers were housed in the first-class quarters.

Food played a large part in restoring the men to health. Particularly on Gallipoli, the field rations were woefully inadequate. After months of tinned bully beef and hard biscuits, the tinned chicken or fish served by the ship’s cooks was absolute heaven.

The Marama and Maheno served until the end of the war. In early 1919 both ships made their final wartime voyages from the UK back to New Zealand, carrying servicemen home.