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Cenotaph Stories

  • From Service to Sports: The journeys of New Zealand's Veteran Olympians

    Madeleine Williamson
    Collection Access Librarian

    From military service to the world stage, New Zealand's veteran Olympians exemplify resilience and dedication. Fifteen New Zealand military veterans have had the privilege of representing New Zealand at the Olympics. Let’s celebrate their stories as we reignite the Olympic flame.

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  • 25 Years of Online Cenotaph

    Victoria Passau
    Online Cenotaph and Enquiry Services Manager

    Online Cenotaph has been commemorating the experiences of Aotearoa New Zealand’s military service for more than 25 years. Online Cenotaph is a collection of data relating to Aotearoa New Zealand’s operational military service including personal, biographical, demographic, social and military information. But it is much more than a collection of datapoints.

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  • Achille Carlier, Mayor of Le Quesnoy during the First World War

    Dr Nathalie Philippe, Senior Lecturer University of Waikato, French

    When New Zealanders troops liberated the fortified town of Le Quesnoy on 4 November 1918, the elected mayor of Le Quesnoy was nowhere to be seen. The inhabitants of Le Quesnoy would have to wait for the Armistice to be able to see their mayor once again. So what had happened to Achille Carlier during the war?

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  • Sharing your stories

    May-September 2022
    Nelson Bennett, Collection Technician Research Support

    This article is part of an ongoing series in which we highlight the amazing contributions we receive at Online Cenotaph. The variety and quality of material that is contributed to records is astonishing and this is our opportunity to highlight just a few examples from May to September of 2022.

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  • A Poem for Passchendaele

    Gail Romano
    Associate Curator, History

    To mark this year's anniversary of Passchendaele, Gail Romano writes about acts of remembrance of New Zealand's darkest day. Through poetry, featuring New Zealand poet and writer Kevin Ireland's A Fine Morning at Passchendaele and the temporary memorial Coming World Remember Me, an installation to commemorate the 100th centenary of the First World War.

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  • Passchendaele

    Kristen MacFarlane

    Find out why this major World War One battle took place and how it led to two of New Zealand's greatest tragedies amid dreadful conditions.

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  • Ngāti Raukawa Sacrifice and Suffering in 20th Century Wars

    Te Kenehi Teira and Heeni Collins
    Ngāti Raukawa

    Despite large loss of land and disregard from the Crown in the 19th century, 50 years later Ngāti Raukawa men were enlisting in large numbers to fight in World War One, and later World War Two. This article outlines the research conducted by Te Kenehi Teira and Heeni Collins as part of a report commissioned by Crown Forestry Rental Trust, Wellington (Wai 2200 Porirua ki Manawatu Inquiry).

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  • 25 years of Online Cenotaph

    December 2021 marked 25 years of Online Cenotaph. It is amazing to think that we have been telling the stories of Aotearoa New Zealand’s military veterans and their comrades for a quarter century.  We are so excited to recognise this significant milestone in digital commemoration.

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  • Anzac Day Contributions

    Over Anzac Day we received numerous contributions of images, notes, and more as people shared precious details. Here, we have highlighted some of the beautiful photographs contributed to Online Cenotaph by loved ones.

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  • Lest We Forget: A Personal Story

    For our annual Lest We Forget Poetry competition we asked writers to respond to the theme of A Personal Story. Encouraging writers to visit Online Cenotaph for inspiration through the personal stories of service men and women. Here we share this year's winning entries.

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