Heroes of Gallipoli by Richard Stowers

$75.00 NZD

Category: First World War

With the centenary of the First World War upon us in 2015, Richard Stowers has written this book to increase the awareness of the unpretentious gallantry and service by New Zealanders during the Gallipoli campaign. The book details the bravery and distinguished service of men and women of the 1st echelo n of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the Gallipoli campaign. In some ways those listed in the book were the lucky ones whose courage was officially recognised. Many more who did heroic acts were not so fortunate, and their actions were never officially recognised due to the fortunes of war. Often overshadowed by the exploits of the Australians who were awarded nine Victoria Crosses during the Gallipoli campaign, time and time again the New Zealanders were denied gallantry medals by their high command. New Zealand can be rightly proud of these men and women who did extraordinary deeds during times of danger, hardship and peril. ...Show more

Safe Haven : The Untold Story of New Zealand's Largest Ever Military Camp Featherston 1916-1919 by Neil Frances

$30.00 NZD

Category: First World War

Safe Haven traces the life of Featherston Military Camp and, through letters, diaries and reminiscences, the men who lived there. The camp left a legacy in buildings, photographs and the site itself, now quiet land alongside State Highway Two, east of Featherston. The building of Featherston Military Ca mp in late 1915 transformed a stony paddock east of Featherston township in south Wairarapa into a ready-made barrack town which could house up to 8,000 raw soldiers at a time. Volunteers and conscripts from all parts of the country came to Featherston, spending two to four months in training, our largest military base their temporary home before they left the safety of New Zealand to endure the heaviest wartime casualties this country has suffered. They lived in barracks and tents, enduring the good and bad of camp life and Featherston's lively climate. The infantry then marched over the Rimutaka Range to Trentham Camp before taking ship for the Western Front. In total about 55,000 men trained at the Featherston Military Camp between 1916-19. ...Show more

Te Hokowhitu a Tu: The Maori Pioneer Battalion in the First World War by Christopher Pugsley

$40.00 NZD

Category: First World War | Reading Level: Very Good

Maori soldiers signing up for the First World War representing a formidable fighting force - Te Hokowhitu a Tu, or the Seventy twice-told warriors of the war god, Tumatauenga. Some 2,227 Maori and 458 Pacific Islanders enlisted with the Maori Pioneer Battalion, providing an essential element in the New Zealand Division's fighting effort, and earning a reputation for bravery and dependability in France, Flanders and beyond. Prejudice kept the Maori Pioneer Battalion well back from the front lines as support troops, but their war efforts won them rights as full citizens of their homelands. Drawing on rare archival material and previously unpublished diaries and letters, Te Hokowhitu a Tu is the authoritative account of Maori and Pacific Islanders in the First World War, and balances the wider story of the Pioneer Battalion's exploits with a portrait of daily life for soldiers who labored not only against the enemy but also racism behind their own lines. It includes numerous photographs and a full list of those who fought with the Battalion. ...Show more

Echoes of Gallipoli: In the Words of New Zealand's Mounted Riflemen by Terry Kinloch

$15.00 NZD

Category: First World War

First published ten years ago to enthusiastic reviews and critical acclaim, this classic celebrated readable scholarship is now available in paperback. Using their letters and diaries, Echoes of Gallipoli tells the story of Gallipoli through the eyes of the men of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade with the immediacy of actually being there. It is a fresh way of telling history, and one that is sure to find a response among New Zealanders today. The full story is here: the call-up, the sea journey, camp in Egypt, the eventual arrival in Gallipoli, all the battles and skirmishes that were fought there, and finally the remarkable evacuation several months later. ...Show more

Brothers in Arms: Gordon & Robin Harper in the Great War by Jock Phillips

$20.00 NZD

Category: First World War

A powerful and beautifully-illustrated story of two New Zealand brothers at Gallipoli and the Sinai Desert. Bringing together original letters, stunning photographs and extraordinary objects sent back from the front, Brothers in Arms evokes the experience of the Great War in a uniquely moving and access ible way. ...Show more

A History of the Wairarapa Aero Club 1929-2019 by John G. Hill; Carol Hill; Wairarapa Aero Club Staff (Contribution by)

$20.00 NZD

Category: First World War

Devils on Horses : In the Words of Anzacs in the Middle East 1916-19 by Terry Kinloch

$20.00 NZD

Category: First World War | Reading Level: Very Good

'Devils on Horses is a very important book for New Zealanders, and for those who read military history. We now have an account of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade in Sinai and Palestine that at last does justice to their story. This was perhaps the finest body of New Zealanders ever to serve overs eas, and now we can see why.' (From the Foreword by Dr Christopher Pugsley). Reunited with their horses in Egypt after the shattering experience of Gallipoli (a story recounted in Terry Kinloch's earlier book, Echoes of Gallipoli), the Anzac mounted riflemen and light horsemen were initially charged with the defence of the Suez Canal, then with the clearance of the Sinai peninsula, and finally with the destruction of the Turkish armies in Palestine and Syria. At last they could pursue the style of warfare for which they had been trained: on horseback. The First World War battlefields in the Middle East have long been overshadowed by those of Gallipoli and the Western Front. Yet the story of the mounted riflemen in Sinai and Palestine is a truly fascinating one. Using the soldiers' original letters and diaries wherever possible, Kinloch vividly describes every battle and skirmish in the long campaign against the Turks: the crucial Battle of Romani, the defeats at Bir el Abd, Gaza and Amman, and the successes at Beersheba, Ayun Kara and elsewhere. He explains the reality of tactical operations in the harsh desert environment, the ever-present necessity of securing water for the precious horses and the remorseless tenacity of the enemy. The horses play a major part in the story, but of the thousands of faithful animals involved, only one would ever return home after the war. Devils on Horses is a gripping read that offers new information about a theatre of war that has been overlooked for decades. Based on original research, it is sure to be the standard reference work on New Zealand's Middle East campaign for years to come. ...Show more

Jack's Journey by Trish McCormack (Andrew Gibson co-editor)

$15.00 NZD

Category: First World War

When Jack Pryce sailed to war in 1915 with the Otago Infantry Battalion he was restless, wanting to "make good" of his life. Experiencing the carnage of Gallipoli and Passchendaele and other epic battles on the Western Front, he rose through the ranks to gain his commission. From the hell of the trenche s to the exhilaration of being a "vagabond" adrift in the world, this is the story of a young man experiencing life at its most deadly while never losing his humanity or zest for living. Written on troopships and in training camps, bivvies, trenches and dugouts, his letters have been cherished by his family ever since. None have been published before. ...Show more

1914-1918 - An Eyewitness to War by Bob Carruthers

$15.00 NZD

Category: First World War

Compiled by Emmy Award winning author and historian Bob Carruthers, this is a fascinating collection of recollections from primary sources reflecting often overlooked aspects of the Great War. The struggle for Verdun, the battles between Austro-Hungarian and Russian forces in the East, and the daily lif e in the trenches are just some of the topics in this fascinating single volume collection which brings together four complete and intriguing memoirs.'Over There - War Scenes on the Western Front' by Arnold Bennett, the Director of Propaganda for France, charts the beginning of the war in France. 'Four Weeks in the Trenches' by Fritz Kreisler is short memoir of the violence on the Eastern Front. 'They Shall Not Pass' by Frank H. Simonds, an American journalist, is an in-depth report on the battle of Verdun. 'An Onlooker in France 1917-1919' is by William Orpen, an official war painter of the First World War. The book contains many of his paintings and drawings, not just of the officers and statesmen, but portraits and sketches of the ordinary soldiers and local people struggling to survive in an impossible situation. ...Show more

With Them Through Hell: New Zealand Medical Services in the First World War by Anna Rogers

$65.00 NZD

Category: First World War | Reading Level: near fine

The thousands of New Zealand men who fought in the First World War went through hell. And right beside them was another fighting force, armed with scalpels, bandages and drugs. Hundreds of doctors, nurses, stretcher-bearers, orderlies and ambulance drivers,dentists, chiropodists, pharmacists, physiother apists and chaplains cared for the sick and wounded, often at great personal risk. Veterinarians did the same for horses, camels and other animals. The challenges were enormous - horrific injuries, gas and deadly diseases, especially the influenza of 1918. There were some astonishing successes - most famously by plastic surgery pioneers Harold Gillies and Henry Pickerill - but the price was high, for patients and carers. The skilled, compassionate and courageous New Zealand medical personnel of the Great War have not always received the attention they deserve. Anna Rogers tells their remarkable story. ...Show more

Good-Bye Maoriland: The Songs & Sounds of New Zealand's Great War by Chris Bourke

$30.00 NZD

Category: First World War | Reading Level: very good

Be it `Tipperary' or `Pokarekare', the morning reveille or the bugle's last post, concert parties at the front or patriotic songs at home, music was central to New Zealand's experience of the First World War. In Good-Bye Maoriland, the acclaimed author of Blue Smoke: The Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music introduces us to the songs and sounds of World War I in order to take us deep inside the human experience of war. ...Show more

The ANZAC Experience: New Zealand, Australia and Empire in the First World War: 2016 by Christopher Pugsley

$20.00 NZD

Category: First World War | Reading Level: Very Good

This gripping illustrated history captures the evolution by trial and error of the New Zealand army, alongside those of Australia and Canada, from the Boer War in South Africa to involvement in the First World War. In its research and writing, Christopher Pugsley walked every New Zealand battlefield on Gallipoli and the Western Front. ...Show more