By the time the Second World War ended in 1945 the 28th (Maori) Battalion had become one of the most celebrated and decorated units in the New Zealand forces. The pinnacle of its achievement was the Victoria Cross won by Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu in 1943. Ultimately, nearly 16,000 Maori enlisted for service during the Second […]
On 28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife Sophie were assassinated in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo. The fallout from this faraway event would ultimately claim the lives of 18,000 New Zealanders and lead to the wounding of 41,000. Places thousands of miles from home […]
Each year on Anzac Day, New Zealanders (and Australians) mark the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings of 25 April 1915. On that day, thousands of young men, far from their homes, stormed the beaches on the Gallipoli Peninsula in what is now Turkey. For eight long months, New Zealand troops, alongside those from Australia, Great […]
Peter Howden Great War Story Peter Howden’s letters to his wife Rhoda comprise one of the largest collections of war writing in New Zealand. The Wellington-born officer made it a rule to write to her every day they were apart, even when he was at the front. Sadly, Peter and Rhoda were never reunited. Gassed […]