Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

Description: "From small town barber, to foot soldier in little over three months - Alex McLeod aged 29 was enlisted to serve in WWII in the 22nd Battalion, New Zealand Army. Alex took care to note down his experiences during this time. It has taken three generations to research and complete his story. From the excitement of travel to the horrors of battle and capture. Alex kept faith and got through this enduring time but not completely unscathed. Here is his story."--Back cover.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "From small town barber, to foot soldier in little over three months - Alex McLeod aged 29 was enlisted to serve in WWII in the 22nd Battalion, New Zealand Army. Alex took…

Description: "Crete news will be published in the future three times a week - Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. This number contains special news items from New Zealand. Others from the British Isles Australia and the Middle East will follow. Some day we will publish the story of our experiences in getting an English paper started in a Greek printing house. In the meantime try to bet used to seeing ',m', upside down or "∙" for "w" because "w"s are as rare as beer on this island."--No.1, p.2.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "Crete news will be published in the future three times a week - Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. This number contains special news items from New Zealand. Others from the…

Description: "Australia has The Great South Road, South Africa has Shaka Zulu, Argentina has the gaucho epic Martin Fierro, and Chile has La Araucana as its national poem. Now New Zealand has Crete 1941, a 2475-line epic poem about the New Zealand-led defence of Crete during the Battle of Crete between 20 May and 1 June 1941. Crete 1941 is the only epic long poem in English since Derek Walcotts Omeros, with the entry of the 28th (Māori) Battalion as an active combat force providing the culmination of the poem. As geopolitical tensions rise in the Pacific today, it is timely to look back to when New Zealand last went to war and defended another small nation Greece on its last redoubt, in a battle that ended in a Dunkirk-style evacuation. More than just a war story, Crete 1941 brings women back into the historic struggle for Crete. The poem is a life-changing reflection on the virtue of good small nations, on the contribution of indigenous people such as Māori and Cretans to international developments, and on the fragility that both peace and its disruptors share. In this poem, Bernard Cadogan tells the story of what small nations such as Greece and Aotearoa New Zealand have had to do to uphold international law, and of the extraordinary extent which indigenous citizenship, such as Māori possess, contributes to the international personality of a country. The defence of the island of Crete in the second world war was a mission which Allied forces could have won. The failure to repel the German landings embroiled Cretans in more than three years of bitter occupation. It is astonishing, in retrospect, that New Zealanders led the defence of the island against a great power such as Germany. Crete is where the famed 28th (Māori) Battalion found its feet in battle. Sfakia on Crete is where the revolutionaries began the struggle for a Hellenic republic in 1821, while in 1941 it was where Allied troops were evacuated from; New Zealand Dunkirk. This poem presents a story which both Greeks and New Zealanders need to recover for themselves from the myths that British writers have created around the Battle of Crete."--Publisher website

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "Australia has The Great South Road, South Africa has Shaka Zulu, Argentina has the gaucho epic Martin Fierro, and Chile has La Araucana as its national poem. Now New Zealand…

Description: 'Gallipoli' takes you behind the scenes of the planning and preparation, describes the landings themselves, key encounters such as the battles for Krithia, Lone Pine and Gully Ravine, and the dramatic Allied evacuations. It features in-depth profiles of the well-known figures associated with the conflict, and reveals the experience of the ordinary soldier on all sides.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: 'Gallipoli' takes you behind the scenes of the planning and preparation, describes the landings themselves, key encounters such as the battles for Krithia, Lone Pine and Gully…

Description: "The battle of Enfidaville was the last major operation in which 2NZ Division was engaged in Africa, and the struggle for Takrouna was the most severe phase of that battle. It came at the end of a severe ten months' campaign, when the Division was at the peak of its efficiency as a fighting machine but signs of strain were beginning to appear. None of the troops engaged had taken part in fewer than two battles, Medenine and Tebaga Gap, and the great majority in many more. The responsibilities of leaders at all grades were consequently greatly increased, and this account shows how they were discharged."--H.K. Kippenberger, preface.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "The battle of Enfidaville was the last major operation in which 2NZ Division was engaged in Africa, and the struggle for Takrouna was the most severe phase of that battle. It…

Description: "Lemnos was the advanced base for the Gallipoli campaign in 1915-16, its great harbour of Mudros Bay witnessed the arrival of the soldiers as they prepared for the landings on the 25th April. It was home to great rest camps and medical facilities, and it was where they returned to after the evacuation of the Peninsula at the end of the campaign. Lemnos' war cemeteries would be the final resting place for 148 Australians, among over 1,300 Allied soldiers buried there. Lemnos would see the first significant interaction between Hellenes and Australians in Greece. The soldiers and nurses would wander the island, visiting its villages, taverns and natural spring baths. They enjoyed the local food and visited the local churches. Most importantly, they captured the life of Lemnos and their time there in hundreds of photographs that would come to lie in archives across Australia, overseas and in private homes. This book tells of the distinctively Hellenic connection to Australia's Gallipoli story through the reproduction of many of these photographs, many taken by soldiers and nurses themselves, and interpreting them with the words recorded in letters and diaries of these Australians who walked on Lemnos in 1915. Not only have many of these photographs never been published before, but this is the first time that such a comprehensive selection of photographs of Lemnos during the Gallipoli campaign has been published together, a fitting tribute to the importance of Lemnos in Anzac history."--Dust jacket.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "Lemnos was the advanced base for the Gallipoli campaign in 1915-16, its great harbour of Mudros Bay witnessed the arrival of the soldiers as they prepared for the landings on…

Description: Tells the story of Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu, the first Māori soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross, describing the battle on the 26 & 27th of March 1943 in which he fought heroically, but was killed. In Ngāti Porou dialect. Suggested level: secondary

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: Tells the story of Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu, the first Māori soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross, describing the battle on the 26 & 27th of March 1943 in which he fought…

Description: "Krithia was a key objective in the land offensives; a killing ground greater than Anzac or Suvla. This book adds to the Gallipoli story and the preceding Battleground books on that campaign by recounting not only the landings at Helles of 25 April 1915, but also the subsequent bitter battles that followed in an attempt to capture the village and the vital high ground of Achi Baba. General Hunter-Weston's weakened 29th Division achieved little during the first two bloody battles of Krithia, even when reinforced by the Anzacs, 42nd Division, Royal Naval Division and the French. The allies had little to show from their costly daylight frontal attacks, apart from a slightly firmer footing ashore and a growing casualty list. As the military situation looked to degenerate into a Western Front style stalemate, General Sir Ian Hamilton pushed for a final battle of Krithia. Using Hunter-Weston's newly formed VIII Corps, and General Gouraud's French Corps ExpΘditionnaire d'Orient, the Third Battle of Krithia launched on 6 June 1915. Despite a promising start, the attack soon collapsed against a stubborn Turkish defence, and although some lessons had been learnt from earlier failures; underestimation of the enemy was not one of them.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "Krithia was a key objective in the land offensives; a killing ground greater than Anzac or Suvla. This book adds to the Gallipoli story and the preceding Battleground books…

Description: "This book provides an interesting insight into the day to day life of a NZ soldier serving in World War II. From time spent training in Australia as a member of the NZ Special Forces Unit, to The North African Campaign and then The Italian Campaign. His time in Italy was interrupted with a stint in the UK on an Officer Training Course. Typing up this book took me on an interesting journey of discovery, both of things about my dad which I never knew, as well as gaining a much better understanding of a part of WWII - seeing the good, the bad and the ugly. I am so privileged and blessed to have been born into my family in this beautiful country of Aotearoa - New Zealand. We were important to dad, and he was always there for us, but now, there are so many things I wished I could have asked him. I wish I had been more inquisitive about people as I was growing up. My encouragement to you is to learn about your parents and grandparents direct from them. They have a wealth of experience and wisdom which I am sure they would love the opportunity to share"--Back cover.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "This book provides an interesting insight into the day to day life of a NZ soldier serving in World War II. From time spent training in Australia as a member of the NZ…

Description: "When World War II broke out, three theological students left their college in Auckland to the sound of bagpipes and volunteered to fight. Eddie Norman, from Hawke's Bay, was one of the them. A natural leader, his first experience of action was at El Alamein in 1942 as a platoon commander. He quickly rose to command 25 Battalion during the brutal Italian campaign."--publisher information.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "When World War II broke out, three theological students left their college in Auckland to the sound of bagpipes and volunteered to fight. Eddie Norman, from Hawke's Bay, was…

Description: "Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham is the only combat soldier ever to win the Victoria Cross twice. His acts of bravery in World War II meant he probably deserved six more.The mystery of how a reserved, modest, slightly built farm valuer from New Zealand, could be so ferocious and fearless in battle has intrigued and fascinated Tom Scott ever since he read about Charles Upham as a schoolboy. Searching for Charlie is his epic quest to unravel the real Charles Upham."--Provided by publisher

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham is the only combat soldier ever to win the Victoria Cross twice. His acts of bravery in World War II meant he probably deserved six more.The…

Description: "In citizen armies, it matters enormously that soldiers should, as Oliver Cromwell put it, know what they fight for and love what they know; the fundamentals of victory or defeat 'often have to be sought far from the battlefield, in political, social, and economic factors'. This study of the British and Commonwealth armies in the Second World War, a fighting force made up predominantly of contingents from Britain, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa, explores not only the material culture and history of great armies in a world war, but also the political, social, and economic factors that influenced their behaviour and experience in the period running up to and during the largest conflagration of the twentieth century"--Publisher information.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "In citizen armies, it matters enormously that soldiers should, as Oliver Cromwell put it, know what they fight for and love what they know; the fundamentals of victory or…