Heritage

New Zealanders in World War I

The experiences of service personnel: letters, reminiscences, etc

Available Online

From our digitised resources

The New Zealand Division in France and Flanders, May 1916 to November 1918
A contemporary diary of pilgrimages in their footsteps April 2002 and July 2005 by John H. Gray

LettersHarper, G. (ed.) Letters from the battlefield: New Zealand soldiers write home, 1914-1918
Correspondence from 35 New Zealand soldiers.
  • Gallipoli, pp. 17-49;
  • France and Western Front, 1916, pp. 50-73;
  • Sinai-Palestine, pp. 74-93;
  • Western Front (France and Belgium), 1917, pp. 94-133;
  • Western Front, 1918, pp. 134-152.
  • Epilogue, pp. 153-162 includes an historiographical discussion of first World War sources.
Ward, C. (ed.) Dear Lizzie: a Kiwi soldier writes from the battlefields of World War 1
Letters from Ira Robinson to his sister, Lizzie Baldwin, describing the daily life of an ordinary soldier. Robinson served on the Western Front, especially at Passchendaele.
Brown, E.P. (ed.) Your loving son, Don: letters home to North Otago from Sergeant Don Brown, VC
Sergeant Don Brown, an Oamaru farmer, served in France in 1916. He was killed in action on 1 October 1916 during the battle of the Somme, and awarded a Victoria Cross posthumously in June 1917 for his gallantry during that battle.
Boyack, N and J. Tolerton (eds.) In the shadow of war: New Zealand soldiers talk about World War 1 and their lives
Interviews with 11 veterans: Stan Stanfield, Lt. Col. Blyth, Vic Nicholson, Colin Gordon, Beet Algar, Gordon Neil, Eric Beveridge, Bill Wiggins, Norman Hutchinson, Russell Weir, Bert Stokes.
Boyack, N. Behind the lines: the lives of New Zealand soldiers in the First World War
Social history of soldiers’ experiences, based on private diaries and letters.
  • Ch. 1: Egypt;
  • Ch. 2: Gallipoli;
  • Ch. 3: The Western Front;
  • Ch. 4: Women, the forgotten victims;
  • Ch. 5: Prostitution (Egypt and London);
  • Ch. 6: Discipline (riots, mutinies, attacks on civilians, court martials).
Carkeek, R. Home little Maori home: a memoir of the Maori Contingent, 1914-1916
Diary of author’s experiences in Egypt, Malta, Gallipoli and France.
The Penguin book of New Zealanders at war 2009
Letters, diaries, journalists’ reports, and memoirs. Part 2: Wars of Empire, including World War 1, pp. 88-237.
Phillips, J. et al. The great adventure
  • Ch. 1: Gallipoli, the diary of William George Malone;
  • Ch. 2: Letters of Randolph Norman Gray (Otago Regiment, Western Front);
  • Ch. 3: Diary of Robin Hamley (Auckland Battalion, Western Front);
  • Ch. 4: Letters of Leonard Hart (Otago Infantry Battalion at Passchendaele);
  • Ch. 5: Letters of Peter Howden (New Zealand Rifle Brigade, Western Front);
  • Ch. 6: Letters of Wilfrid Collinson Smith (1st Wellington Infantry, Western Front);
  • Ch. 7: Letters of Alec Hutton (New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 1918);
  • Ch. 8: Letters of Walter Carruthers (stretcher bearer at Gallipoli, infantryman on Western Front).
Chronicles of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces, 1916-1919 [microfiche]
A newspaper published with news of New Zealand soldiers in Europe and patriotic efforts at home. There is an index of names for the first volume of the Chronicles, which covers the period August 1916-February 1917: Chronicles of the NZEF: an index of names, compiled by Ann Evans.

Troopship magazines

The library holds a series of newspapers / periodicals published on board some of the troopships which carried New Zealand servicemen to Europe. These papers contain news of happenings on board and include lists of the soldiers on the voyage. Some of the titles are listed below:

For further information, you can check the libraries’ catalogue: World War, 1914-1918 Personal narratives, New Zealand