Educational Resources:

Check out the resources linked below to learn more about the Battle of Passchendaele, it’s place in WWI and the lessons we can learn from it. At any time, click on the title at the top left, ‘Blood and Mud,’ to return to the Passchendaele Centennial Competition for New Zealand Schools : Winning Entry.

The Passchendaele Offensive:

A detailed article by Lode and Sandi Notredame that outlines the events of the action at Passchendaele.

Animals in the Great War:

This resource covers how animals were used in the First World War, the sacrifices they made and how they are remembered today.

Passchendaele in the context of the Great War:

Iain Mackenzie discusses the place of Passchendaele in the wider context of the Great War in this thought-provoking article.

The Passchendaele Society Reading List:

Looking for a good read? Check out our broad range of recommended books about the Great War with books suitable for all ages and interests.

Lessons from Passchendaele

What are we to learn from Passchendaele? Greg Hall, author of the Great War novel, ‘Good Sons,’ tackles this daunting question.

Passchendaele In The Context of WW1

By Iain MacKenzie, former President of the Passchendaele Society

1.0 Origins of the First World War (1914-1918)

2.0 New Zealand’s First Act of War (1914)

3.0 Gallipoli (1915)

4.0 The Western Front (1914-1918)

5.0 The Battle of the Somme (1916)

6.0  Flanders and Passchendaele (1917)

7.0  New Zealand’s Contribution to the First World War (1914-1918)

8.0  New Zealanders’ Perception of the First World War (1914-2011)

1.0 Origins of the First World War (1914-1918)

The assassination of Archduke Frans Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife Sophie in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo on the 28 June 1914 by the “Black Hand” a Serbian nationalist society, set in train a mindless series of events that culminated in the world’s first global war. One thing led to another so quickly that within two months of the assassination the First World War was underway.

Austria-Hungary issued a strong ultimatum to Serbia. If it had been accepted it would have nullified Serbian sovereignty so the Serbians rejected this ultimatum on the 28 July 1914 and Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia the same day. Austro-Hungarian troops joined by soldiers from their provinces of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia invaded Serbia which was conquered in little more than a month . There the matter should have ended – a little skirmish settled !

However Russia, although not bound by any formal treaty, announced the mobilisation of its vast army to come to the defence of Serbia.

Germany, was allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty and after Austria-Hungary declared war and attacked Serbia, regarded the Russian mobilisation as an act of war against Austria-Hungary and declared war on Russia on 1 August 1914.

France was bound by treaty to Russia and found itself at war against Germany and by extension against Austria-Hungary.

Germany mobilised its forces to attack France and in order to reach Paris by the shortest route invaded neutral Belgium on 3 August 1914.

The Turkish Ottoman Empire signed a pact with Germany in August 1914 and a front was established at Gallipoli.

Japan honoured a military agreement with Britain and declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914.

Italy declared a policy of neutrality but in May 1915 joined the conflict on the side of the Allies.

The United States of America declared a policy of absolute neutrality which lasted until 1917 when Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare  and the Zimmermann telegram seeking an alliance between Germany and Mexico against the United States forced America to enter the war on 6 April 1917.

2.0 New Zealand’s First Act of War (1914)

And so the young British colony of New Zealand was engaged in a World War far from it’s own shores and it’s first act of the war was to send an expeditionary force to seize and occupy German Samoa in August 1914.

3.0 Gallipoli (1915)

After training in Egypt New Zealand’s first major involvement of the great war was at Gallipoli in 1915 where they fought as a brigade with the Australians (the ANZACS) The chaotic landings at Gallipoli have been well documented and although Gallipoli saw many courageous New Zealand actions and brief successes (Chunuk Bair) Turkey successfully repelled the British, French and the  Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.  The Ottoman Forces were not defeated until 1918. More than 2,700 New Zealanders died at Gallipoli. The battles with the Ottoman Turks continued on different fronts and the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade fought in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Jordan. After Gallipoli however the main force of New Zealanders were formed into an Infantry Division and sent to the Western Front in Europe where they performed as a Colonial Division of the British Expeditionary Force.

4.0 The Western Front (1914-1918)

The German invasion of Belgium on 4 August 1914 as the quickest way to Paris was brought to a halt in September and the Western Front became a static battle arena with a line of trenches stretching from Switzerland to the Belgian coast. On one side of the Front the British and their allies- on the other the Germans and theirs. Massive armies locked together with their enemies in a landscape which was to become unbelievably desolated. In four years of fighting more than ten million soldiers lost their lives. The battle lines barely moved for most of the war as the opposing sides artillery pounded each other again and again and again. It was a war of attrition and the loser would be the one who first ran out of ammunition, equipment and men. By June 1917 German submarines were sinking one out of every four merchant ships headed for Britain.  Admiral Jellicoe the British First Sea Lord warned that if nothing was done to stop this Britain would not have enough supplies to go on fighting. The British Expeditionary Force was under the control of British General Sir Douglas Haig. History has criticised the performance of the Generals involved in the first world war and certainly Sir Douglas Haig has to take his share of that criticism. He was under enormous pressure however to change the stalemate  and his strategy to do so was a planned breakthrough on the Ypres front accompanied by an attack by the Royal Navy on the U – Boat bases in the German occupied Belgian ports of Oostende and Zeebrugge. The task of breaking through the Ypres front was entrusted to General Hubert Gough and the major problem  was how to break through the defensive positions which the Germans had taken up on the West Flanders Ridge – a line of low hills between forty to sixty meters in height.  A key to the breakthrough plan was  taking the village of Passchendaele sitting atop the Bellevue Ridge. This proved to be the most difficult  part of the plan to achieve and in achieving it the sacrifices made by New Zealand soldiers on 12 October 1917 made this the blackest day in New Zealand’s history. The Germans were eventually driven back in a series of successful offensives in 1918 and by that time it was the Germans who had run out of resources.  A cease fire was agreed on 11 November 1918 (Armistice Day) by which time more than 12,500 New Zealanders had died on the Western Front out of a total of 18,188 for the entire war.

5.0 The Battle of the Somme (1916)

The Battle of the Somme  was actually a series of battles over five months which itself resulted in more than a million and a half casualties. More than 2,000 New Zealanders were killed at the Somme and New Zealand’s Unknown Soldier who now lies at the National War Memorial in Wellington is one of those soldiers. With more than 7,500 casualties the Somme was New Zealand’s most costly battle ever.

6.0 Flanders and the Battle of Passchendaele (1917)

Throughout history many wars have been fought on Flanders Fields. Waterloo and the Napoleonic Wars spring to mind but Germany’s invasion of Belgium on 4 August 1914 brought the First World War to Belgium and brought with it an unimaginable scale of carnage to that country.

Just as the Battle of the Somme  was a series of battles over five months the Battle for Passchendaele was a series of battles fought between July and November 1917 – La Basseville, Pilkem Ridge, Langemarck, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde and Poelcapelle – all leading up to the disastrous first Battle of Passchendaele on 12 October 1917 – New Zealand’s greatest ever military disaster!

The story of Passchendaele is not an uplifting story, but the story must be told. We must tell the story of New Zealand’s worst ever military disaster. We must tell the story of a complete massacre. We must tell the story of a battle that never should have happened but it did and we must tell the story of the disastrous consequences of the Battle of Passchendaele for New Zealand and New Zealanders.

Two conditions are essential when troops are advancing into enemy territory and neither was present at Passchendaele. One is that the front line must be straight and the other is that you must be on firm terrain.

A critical part of the front as it approached Passchendaele was not a straight line.  There was in the line a curve because of the enemy positions on the West Flanders Ridge. This curve had to be taken out before the advance on Passchendaele could take place. A group of engineers tunnelled under the German lines and laid twenty one high explosive mines and at 3.10 am on the 7th of June 1917  nineteen mines exploded simultaneously along the curve. It was the most powerful man made explosion ever made up till that time. It was heard across the Channel in London. It was in fact so powerful that it caused an earthquake ! The line was straightened out . The Germans abandoned their positions. The Allies advanced and by 7 am the New Zealanders  had taken Messines and had suffered relatively few casualties in what was generally regarded as one of the greatest military successes of the entire war. The Germans however began to bombard the newly captured areas with increasing ferocity and by the time the New Zealand Division was relieved two days later 700 of them had been killed and another 3,000 wounded. The territorial success gained at Messines was not followed up quickly enough however because  the troops north of the New Zealanders were not ready to move  forward and this gave the Germans time to reorganise themselves into their three line defensive format.

On 12 July 1917 the Germans used mustard gas which caused untold suffering on both men and horses. The New Zealanders had taken 1,000 horses with them to Flanders and there are many stories told of how well they looked after their horses. Many of the soldiers were country boys who grew up with horses and they knew how to look after them, grooming them and feeding them before they ate themselves. Of the thousand horses who went to Flanders only four survived.

At the end of July 1917 the New Zealand 1st Brigade was involved in battles at La Basseville, a few kilometres south-west of Messines and the main objective of this was to create a decoy from the preparations taking place near Passchendaele.

The New Zealanders were then engaged in the Passchendaele Offensive itself. In muddy conditions the Australians were sent up the Broodseinde Ridge whilst the New Zealanders objective was to take s’Graventafel Spur, the first of two small rises leading to the Passchendaele Ridge. On the 4th October 1917 at the Battle of Broodseinde the New Zealanders took s’Graventafel and opened up the way to Passchendaele. The victory at Broodseinde was one of the New Zealanders greatest war successes. The artillery of the allies had decimated the first two lines of the German three level defensive system but it was the spirit, determination and aggressiveness of the New Zealanders which broke through the third level and a bloody series of bayonet fights left the area littered with German dead.

Whilst the First Auckland and Third Otago attacked on the left and the First Wellington and Third Auckland on the right, the Second and Third Wellington together with the Second Auckland and Third Canterbury  pushed through the middle  and penetrated the Germans third line of defence. All the German pillboxes were captured one by one an accomplishment which could only be achieved by acts of individual bravery.

The New Zealanders and others gained a kilometre in territory at s’Graventafel which was a huge success in world war one terms and took a thousand prisoners. They lost 320 lives however, including Dave Gallaher, the captain of the 1905 original All Blacks and a Sergeant in the 2nd Battalion of the Auckland Regiment who had lowered his age in order to get to fight.

At Poelcapelle on the 9th October 1917 several high ranking British Officers wanted to halt the Flanders offensive due to the deteriorating conditions as the winter approached but Field Marshal Haig would have none of that. The victories at Messines and s’Graventafel had led him to believe that the impasse could be broken , a breakthrough on the Western Front was possible and that just another push at Passchendaele would do it. On the 10th October 1917 Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig is quoted as saying…” the enemy is now much weakened in morale and lacks the desire to fight.” This was to be proved as a tragic delusional statement to support the key element of his plan to take Passchendaele – a  formerly quiet village sitting on the top of a ridge called Bellevue Heights.

As the winter approached one of the essentials which had to be in place for advancing into enemy territory had been taken care of –the front line had been straightened out, but what about the other-the requirement to be on firm terrain?

The autumn of 1917 had been  the wettest in Belgium for 70 years and the flat landscape around Passchendaele had been churned into a porridge of mud. The British Artillery had pounded the German positions with 4.2 million shells in the two weeks before the Battle of Passchendaele and had completely destroyed the drainage system around Passchendaele . Every tree, house, church and street had been blown to pieces so that the entire terrain between Ypres and Zonnebeke had been turned into a pitiless, cratered landscape which sucked men , machines and horses into a vacuum of mud. The bombardments had been so destructive  that they made the advance of troops impossible yet at the same time they had not been precise enough to take out the German defensive system of concrete bunkers.

”Time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted”  is a piece of solid military wisdom and yet reconnaissance on the battle terrain at Passchendaele could only have revealed  the mud, the rain filled shell craters,  the war debris and the uncut barbed wire sloping towards the German machine gun posts stretching all the way along the Bellevue Ridge, the second small ridge leading to the Passchendaele Ridge . The mud had meant that the New Zealand artillery could not be properly positioned and so the barrages were weak and ineffective, some shells  dropping short and causing deaths and injuries to our own soldiers. The German pill boxes at the top of Bellevue Ridge were left undamaged.

The terrain to be taken by the New Zealanders was just a sea of mud, rain filled shell craters, uncut barbed wire and war debris and on top of this when it began to rain with a vengeance – a human tragedy of epic proportions was inevitable.

The New Zealand Commander General Andrew Russell complained that  “the mud is a worse enemy than the Germans” but Field Marshal Haig was adamant. One almost senses his desire for success, regardless of the cost of New Zealand lives.

The order was given to attack the Bellevue Ridge before daybreak at 5.25 am on 12 October 1917 and so began the most tragic day in New Zealand’s history.

The New Zealanders advanced toward the ridge in a drizzle which turned into driving rain and as they tried to get through the uncut barbed wire, some of them up to their hips in mud, they were exposed to raking German machine gun fire from both the front and the flanks. Most were then pinned down in the rain filled shell craters and those who tried to get through the barbed wire were  killed instantly. 846 young New Zealanders were killed in the first  four hours of the Battle. This information was conveyed to Command. It is difficult to believe that the response from Command at 3 pm was to order another push on Bellevue Heights.  This was mercifully postponed and eventually cancelled but by the end of the day the total number of casualties, that is the dead, the wounded and the missing was 2,700. It took two and a half days to clear the battlefield of the dead and the injured.  The total death toll when those who died later because of the injuries received  was taken into account was more than a thousand. It was New Zealand’s darkest day.

What was left of the New Zealand Division retreated and Passchendaele was eventually taken by Canadian forces on 6 November after two further battles. The village had been  completely destroyed. By the time the New Zealand Division was finally withdrawn from Flanders in February 1918  three Victoria Crosses had been awarded for bravery but they had suffered more than 18,000 casualties including around 5,000 deaths.

So what does the chronicle of history conclude about the Western Front and the gallant New Zealand involvement at Passchendaele? Well after more than three months of fighting the allies had advanced eight kilometres and lost more than 250,000 soldiers. The German losses were similar. But those 500,000 lives were all for nothing because in March 1918 the Generals abandoned every inch of territory gained to cover a new German offensive towards Ypres…..

Nevertheless the importance of the Battle of Passchendaele is that in a strategical sense it contributed to the reasons which brought World War 1 to an end. Because the Germans were kept busy in the north for so long, they were unable to attack the defenceless French to the south. They were also unable to support the Belgian ports of Oostende and Zeebrugge where German U boats were based. Perhaps most importantly they lost so much equipment that the German industry could not replace and so the war of attrition ended because the Germans were deprived of the resources which they needed to win the war.

7.0 New Zealand’s Contribution to the First World War

New Zealand sent 100,000 from a population of  1 million to the First World War. This was a huge contribution from a small country in the fight for freedom from German domination in Europe but the consequences for the country were that more than 2,700 soldiers were to die at Gallipoli in 1915, then 2,000 at the Battle of the Somme in France in 1916, then 5,000 were killed in Flanders in a series of battles leading to the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917. All in all 12,500 New Zealanders died on the Western Front out of the total of  18,188 who lost their lives in this war. The magnitude of the death toll in the First World War is put in perspective when it is realised that more soldiers were killed in this war than the total of the Boer War, World War Two and Vietnam combined.

8.0 New Zealanders’ Perception of the First World War

No less a person than the President of the New Zealand Returned and Services Association was quoted in the media ,whilst talking about New Zealanders knowledge of their history and such historical events  as Gallipoli, the Western Front and Passchendaele as saying that when New Zealanders think about our military history they instinctively think about Gallipoli which they also see as our greatest military disaster. He said…” this seems immersed in our belief but historically it is not accurate”.

Now if our perception of our own history is not accurate then there is work to be done to change this and that is an important role for the Passchendaele Society.

So for many New Zealanders the First World War means Gallipoli, and what happened after that at the Western Front and Passchendaele became our forgotten war. Back home in 1915 New Zealanders had to absorb the shocking news of 2,700 deaths at Gallipoli, but as our war moved into Europe and the Western Front with the death toll mounting throughout 1916 , 1917 and 1918 to its final count of 18,188, New Zealanders had become war weary and by the time the war ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 there was untold grief in almost every family around the country.  People however simply had to get on with their lives and were encouraged to do so by  governments which did not give them the opportunity to commemorate the battles of the Western Front and Passchendaele in a similar manner to that which  had been done with Gallipoli.

As a nation we have commemorated the Gallipoli landings on the 25th of April 1915 every year  since 1916 but we did not commemorate as a nation the battles fought on the Western Front such as Passchendaele which played a much more significant role in the context of the war and contributed significantly in bringing about the end of the war which we have commemorated since 1919 together with our First World War allies on Armistice Day.

So whilst Gallipoli has over the past one hundred plus years become a major shrine and a place of pilgrimage, the Western Front and Passchendaele has been allowed to slip from our national consciousness. It is not surprising therefore that our perception of history is not accurate.

Lessons from Passchendaele

Author of “Good Sons” and Former Passchendaele Society Director Greg Hall writes:

Nearly one thousand young New Zealand men were killed in a battle which took place on 12th October 1917. That day has become as symbolic and important as 25th April 1915 in focusing on the lessons of The First World War. Why – and in what cause – and have we learned anything from the deaths of those men and the eternal grief which their loss perpetrated on their families, their communities and our society?

Throughout history young men and sometimes women, have been called to arms, given a weapon and a uniform and asked or ordered to die either for or against a cause. Whether the cause is a country, a region, a religion, or a political idea or movement – those determined to gain ascendancy and power or to oppose it, through force of arms, have encouraged, cajoled, threatened and bullied others to join them.

Although young men, whether in uniform or not, have been borne the brunt of the fighting, the casualties have been women and children, families, communities, societies, ethnic and religious groupings. No one is immune from the effects of war.

The First World War arguably needed to be fought. Militarism and Totalitarianism and racial or religious hatred are cancers that grow within a country or a religious or a political movement and if not contained can spread like a virus through the air and may physically cross borders to invade, occupy and suppress others. History tells us that the physical invasion is usually on the back of some pretext or incident such as the ‘Sarajevo incident’ in July 1914 or the invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Sudetenland and Poland in 1938/39 or more recently the Russian annexation of the Crimea and attempt at fomenting rebellion in Ukraine.

After the First World War – “the war to end all wars” – the peace process established a League of Nations in order to intervene in geo-political squabbles before they escalated to armed conflict. It was not successful. Its successor, the United Nations, established in 1945, has been more effective with the imposition of sanctions and the threat of armed force assisting to keep some potential conflicts from developing further. Sanctions are helping to contain Russian aggression and are the most potent force in maintaining relative peace on the Korean Peninsula. Long term, the United Nations with its ability to enforce economic sanctions coupled with the threat of armed force probably remains the most effective ‘last resort’ in the face of a serious threat to world peace. However, that organisation is still in its infancy and the ability of any one of the nine Security Council members to veto a UN proposal is a major flaw in its make-up, as is the ability of powerful members of the UN to manipulate the organisation as we saw when the United States and Great Britain invaded Iraq on the pretext of the existence of “weapons of mass destruction.” There were no such weapons in Iraq and the subsequent destruction of that country, its infrastructure, and political systems was to lead directly to the emergence of ISIS and to the current slaughter in Syria and both instability and the imposition of totalitarianism elsewhere in the Middle-East.

The UN recognises that real peace and stability in the world will only come about through true equality, eradication of poverty, increased education and has developed many programmes to oversee those seemingly impossible ideals.

Governments must wholeheartedly support a peaceful world order through equality and eradication of poverty and they must embrace negotiation and mediation and disavow armed conflict. If not, then once again as happened 100 years ago young men and women will become the pawns in the games of the power-hungry, the genocidal and fanatical. These are the true lessons of Passchendaele.

Reading List:

All the best books for students of all ages…

Book 1: ‘New Zealand and the First World War’ by Damien Fenton

An excellent start to any Great War library and one we would highly recommend! There’s a variety of chapters covering the whole war, the home front and specifically Passchendaele. Accompanied with gorgeous illustrations and fold out maps and pamphlets, it goes into great detail about all the battles, tactics and weaponry used in the Great War and is a great resource for all the family. This book was put together specifically for the centenary by a great Kiwi author and earns its place in your collection.

Book 2: ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ by Erich Maria Remarque

One of, if not the most famous novel about World War 1. Wrote by a German veteran, it outlines the true horror and humanity of the Great War. His words are so full of sorrow but so beautiful, it is truly a must read for anyone interested in the Great War. Remarque was German but despite the fact he fought on the other side of the war, for the Central Powers, it is humbling to see how many of his experiences were shared by his British, French, Australian and New Zealand counterparts. This book helps break one of the popular myths of the war, that the Germans were the villains. Without World War 2 as context, it is easy to see these men for what they truly were, people caught up in one of the most horrific situations imaginable, it didn’t matter what badge they wore over their hearts, but what lay within them.

“But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony–Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy?” -Erich Maria Remarque

Book 3: ‘Passchendaele The Sacrificial ground’ by Nigel Steel and Peter Hart

Including quotes and excerpts from the diaries of regular soldiers to Haig’s own memoirs, this book is incredibly comprehensive. It covers the developments of the battle in extraordinary depth. Maps detail the movements of troops and artillery barrages and anecdotes from soldiers detail a bit about what life was like there and how they responded to the motions of the battle. it has been highly praised, Field Marshal Lord Carver said that, “Few have painted as vivid and detailed a picture of what the Third Battle of Ypres [Passchendaele] was like as this book.” This coming from a second World War commander and a man with a list of titles and awards longer than this post. One of the most fascinating parts of the book is the detonation of the explosives placed by sappers a year prior to the battle, the countdown is cleverly put together by quoting the various Australian and British Captains as they prepare to detonate the explosion which was heard as far away as London and Dublin.

“Three minutes to go, two minutes to go One Minute to go!”
-Captain Oliver Woodward 1st Australian Tunneling Company, Australian Engineers

“45 seconds, 30 seconds, 15 seconds 10 seconds, 5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1 GO!”
-Sapper Roll, 1st Australian Tunneling Company, Australian Engineers

“It was a white incandescent light we knew that the temperature was about 3000 degrees centigrade. The Germans there went up as gas.”
-Lieutenant Bryan Frayling, 171st Tunneling Company, Royal Engineers.

This section of the book talked about an incredible undertaking that was many months in the making and involved the sappers digging under ground underneath a massive German force and planting tonnes of explosives. The Sappers literally wore slippers in the mines to keep quiet and had respirators due to the carbon monoxide. If you want to know more about this incredible plan, Dan Carlin’s third Blueprint for Armageddon episode includes it and this book covers it in the greatest detail of any source

Book 4: ‘Massacre at Passchendaele‘ by Glyn Harper

A book by one of our members and official historian: Glyn Harper.

Harper wrote this book in response to the lack of material on Passchendaele by New Zealanders, about New Zealanders. He extensively uses extracts and memoirs to illustrate the background and the full extent of the battle. Lieutenant Colonel Glyn Harper is the New Zealand Army’s Military Studies Institute Commanding officer. He’s also the official historian of the New Zealand Army. With this in mind you can see why he places emphasis all through the ranks and branches of service and examines Kiwi soldiers in particular. In his opinion, which I heartily agree with, “No British, Australian, or Canadian chronicle of the war would be complete without an account of what took place here. For even more than the Somme, Passchendaele symbolises the futility of trench warfare.”

That is the true tragedy of Passchendaele, it was another bloody chapter in the trench warfare narrative, yet at the time, no one was able to see the futility of it unless they were waist deep in the mud fighting for survival. I’d highly recommend you give this one a read, it is solely focused on New Zealand’s part in the battle and does the men that fought there some real justice. After all, while it was a tragedy, Gallipoli was not a patch on Passchendaele, yet why do we as a nation choose remember it instead?

“For New Zealand. Passchendaele deserves to be, and should become, as Sergeant Wilson believed it would back in October 1917, an experience ‘that will long be remembered by New Zealanders.’ This book aims to tell the story of this New Zealand tragedy.”

Book 5: ‘ANZAC Ted’ by Belinda Landsberry

One for the young uns – this book comes recommended by Sharon Crawford at Rototuna Primary School library! This book is a perfect way to introduce young children to the Great War. The story uses rhyme to deliver its message which will appeal to children. Anzac Ted is a battered, old bear, who has seen better days. He belongs to a little boy who takes him to school for a ‘show ‘n’ tell’ day and none of the children liked him, as he was old and scary looking. If only the children could see beyond Anzac Ted’s physical appearance…The story behind Anzac Ted delves into the lives of the little boy’s Poppa, who fought in the war, and Anzac Ted was there with him. He became the regiment’s mascot and he brought comfort and inspired bravery around him, although Anzac Ted, ‘Never saw a medal, but some heroes never do. And we don’t see just how we’d be without our Anzac crew.’ Anzac Ted now sits proudly on the little boy’s bed-a hero to his family

Book 6: ‘The Other Anzacs’ by Peter Rees

“By the end of The Great War, 45 Australian and New Zealand nurses had died in overseas service and more than 200 had been decorated. These were women who left for war on an adventure, but were soon confronted with remarkable challenges for which their civilian lives could never have prepared them. They were there for the horrors of Gallipoli and they were there for the savagery the Western Front. Within 12 hours of the slaughter at Anzac Cove they had more than 500 horrifically injured patients to tend on one crammed hospital ship, and scores of deaths on each of the harrowing days that followed. Every night was a nightmare. Their strength and humanity were remarkable. Using diaries and letters, Peter Rees takes us into the hospital camps, wards, and tent surgeries on the edge of some of the most horrific battlefronts of human history. But he also allows the friendships and loves of these courageous and compassionate women to enrich their experiences, and ours. This is a very human story from a different era, when women had not long begun their quest for equality and won the vote. They were on the front line of social change as well as war, and the hurdles they had to overcome and the price they paid, personally and professionally, make them a unique group in Anzac history. Profoundly moving. ‘The Other Anzac’s,’ is story of extraordinary compassion and courage shown by a group of Australian and New Zealand women whose contribution to the Anzac legend has barely been recognized in history. Peter Rees has changed our understanding of that history forever. ”

Book 7: ‘Soldiers’ Songs and Slang of the Great War,’ by Martin Pegler

Look forward to a few bits of trench slang coming up on the page!

You’d be surprised how much of our slang has come from the Great War, here’s a great way to learn some of the fun and frightening terms they used. I chose this book for my last day in the competition because it emphasises two things that I feel are important to remember about the war, humour and the horror. The fact that these men were still able to make jokes and satire their situation is a testament to their character. This is one of the most admirable things about our ancestors and helps us connect with them on a more human level. When their sufferings are described in dark and ironic humour we get to see more about what kind of people they were.

“A celebration of cheerful determination in the face of appalling adversity Soldiers”, ‘Songs and Slang of the Great War’, reveals the bawdy and satiric sense of humour of the Tommy in the trenches. Published to coincide with the centenary of the First World War, this collection of rousing marching songs, cheering ditties, evocative ‘sing-alongs’ and complete diction of soldiers’ slang reveals the best of British and Allied humour of the period. Wonderfully illustrated with Punch cartoons, posters and the soldiers’ own Wipers Times, this nostalgic book will not only delight but also give a real sense of daily life amidst the mud and blood of the trenches for American, Canadian, Australian and British soldiers.” – The blurb on the back

Book 8: ‘The Obscure Heroes of Liberty’ by Dr. Kenneth M. Baker

When putting together the new reading list, it was immediately clear that Kenneth’s book had to start us off. From it’s sensitive and academic approach to relatively untrodden ground in the history of the Great War, this book tells the tale of the Belgian resistance movements. We were also very lucky to promote Baker’s book launch last year at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

A story that most certainly deserved the recognition that Dr. Baker ably provides in this novel, with the names of as many of the resistance members as he could find included; to honour their memory. Considering that this people were actively trying to hide their identities, it is certainly a tremendous scholarly and investigative achievement.

With over 1,100 Belgians being involved, both men and women, the Belgian resistance was responsible for evacuating many British and French servicemen out of occupied Belgium and for collecting valuable intelligence for the Entente’s war effort. This book most certainly deserves it’s place in your library.

If you’d like to buy the book directly from Dr Kenneth Baker, follow this link: https://www.theobscureheroes.com/buy-the-book-copy?

Book 9: ‘The First World War’ by Gary Sheffield

A visually impressive book, taking full advantage of the Imperial War Museums’ photographic collections. Besides being an incredibly broad book in it’s coverage of the war from the eastern Front, to Romania, to Africa to Ireland and the entire panorama of the Western Front; the most compelling parts of this book are the documents included. A number of period letters and maps are included. These personal accounts and official orders tell the story of the great war in fascinating detail and include many famous and rare articles including the handwritten draft of Haig’s famous, ‘Backs to the Wall,’ address.

Many original maps produced for the book are included, these shed further light on the movements of vast armies and help simplify key ideas such as the Schlieffen plan. Most definitely a, ‘must have,’ for anyone wishing to gain a good understanding of the entire War with just one book. Being that this book is so broad in it’s coverage, it can’t delve into all the details of the various actions of the war but in doing so, it inspires further research.

Book 10: ‘Good Sons’ by Greg Hall

With a huge number of histories already covered on our list; it is about time for a historical fiction. A novel by our very own Greg Hall, ‘Good Sons,’ captures the emotional, empathetic connection that draws so many of us to the history of the Great War. Written from the perspective of the soldiers, ‘Good Sons,’ serves to foster that missing link between us and them and opens readers up to the thoughts of the men caught up in the quagmire of war. Chapters cleverly begin with the use of newspaper articles in the local Oamaru based paper which provides an interesting juxtaposition between reportage and the experiences of our characters Tom, Robert and Frank. What makes the novel particularly appealing is the way in which the soldiers are humanised rather than deified. They’re neither statistics nor stoic marble monuments, they are believable people. Beginning with a verse from Owen’s, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est,’ sets a wry and dark tone that should quickly dispel any notions of patriotic fervour and adventure. Yet, our characters begin in Chapter 1 with a familiar innocence that contrasts with the inevitability of the bleak, prescient prologue which is set later highlighting the diversity between perception and the reality in the Great War.

Book 11: ‘Civilian into Soldier’ by John A. Lee

This is New Zealand’s, ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ written by Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) recipient John A. Lee, we follow the experiences of the fictionalised extension of the author, Private John Guy. This book was released in 1937 and a sign of things to come again; we were recommended this book by Jeff Lynex on the last Reading list. The author himself is as interesting as the book and was in his time, a political force in NZ. Lee received his DCM for capturing a machine gun post during the Battle of Messines. Set on the Western Front, it follows the tense back and forth action that occurred during the battles the author knew well.

Lee was a well known and somewhat charismatic orator and writer, despite the loss of part of his left arm. He was the MP for East Auckland and fought a number of political battles upon his return from the war. After publishing this book, Lee continued to write, often on the subject of socialism with which he identified. Lee made an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the labour party in his time due to the then Prime Minister M.J. Savage believing his views to be too extreme. Lee’s literary attack against the terminally ill Savage were the death knell of his political career—which had included such achievements as his instrumental part to play in Labour’s State Housing scheme. Certainly, an interesting character to look into and one of New Zealand’s most divisive political figures.

Book 12: ‘Dark Journey’ by Glyn Harper

We’ve previously featured, ‘Massacre at Passchendaele,’ by Glyn Harper, the Passchendaele Society’s—and once the New Zealand Army’s—official historian. However, at the recommendation of Bruce Reid on the previous reading list, I tracked down this history from Harper as well. ‘Dark Journey,’ is a revision and continuation of Harper’s previous work that spans the Western Front.

Following the actions of NZ’s major battles in this theatre of the war, Harper chronicles the contributions of New Zealand soldiers and notes interesting details along the way such as the exploits of Victoria Cross recipients. In this book, the third battle of the Somme, Passchendaele and the Spring Offensive are expanded upon in grand detail. You’ll find few other efforts that match Harper’s attention to detail as he plots the course of the conflict throughout the dark journey our soldiers undertook to eventual victory. This is one for the history buffs with years of research between the pages.

Book 13: ‘Fearless’ by Adam Claasen

This surprising book records the untold and often unrecognised tale of NZ’s involvement in aviation leading up to and during the Great War. For those with an interest in the development of flight in NZ, this book is unmissable. Shedding light on the unfamiliar actions of many flying Kiwis, ‘Fearless,’ spans the entire panorama of their perilous struggles occurring above the scenes of some of mankind’s greatest battles. From the Western Front and the North Sea, to Africa and above London; this book holds many an untold tale.

A number of tense stories are told in Claasen’s exciting prose with accompanying photographs as he tells of New Zealand pilots attacking Zeppelins, harassing German supply lines near Ypres or participating in the large and choreographed aerial actions of 1918. A holistic account, ‘Fearless,’ sets about describing the airmen’s way of life and occupying diversions when not otherwise employed in the war effort along with the subtle differences between the bored airman and the board soldier. Be the story taking above the pyramids of Giza, Gallipoli or the skies of the Western Front; Claasen’s account is exhaustive and is a time-consuming but rewarding read. It had to be a long story being that New Zealanders were often present at some of aviation’s seminal moments and took part in a number of daring acts of aerial courage that have been largely overlooked. Certainly, worth picking up for those interest in NZ’s aviation history and in the aerial combat of the Great War.

Book 14: ‘The Good Soldier’ by Gary Mead

Butcher Haig or one of the most experienced and innovative commanders in the West? Field Marshall Haig has been called a great many things and it is about time we had a discussion about him. This book broaches that discussion with the aim of finding out who the man behind the widespread condemnation and post-revisionist praise. In this book, you’ll go back to the beginning with Haig’s childhood and the inception of his military career during the Victorian era. Haig is a curious individual that saw himself very much as a soldier in much the same way as the Duke of wellington did; without actually being one. If you happen to have seen an image (or maybe the real article) of Haig’s grave, you’ll likely notice that is the same as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s regular fare for all the British soldiers of the Great War. Ironically, we rarely ever hear of Haig’s own opinions on his military career and the epitaph on his grave, ‘He trusted in God and tried to do the right,’ is an interesting piece of the puzzle—more of which Mead reveals in the book.

For one who sent a great many of them into death and dismemberment, it is fascinatingly acknowledged in, ‘The Good Soldier,’ that Haig did many things for Great War veterans’ organisations following 1918. Haig provides a complicated character study being that he came from an incredibly wealthy, career military Victorian background, yet found himself commanding a largely volunteer or conscripted army during mankind’s first industrial war. Being that Haig did little in the way of denying or countering the many concentrated condemnations of his military career post-war, it is important that we try to understand the man himself to gain more insight in order to make an informed decision about our opinions of him.

What are your opinions on Haig? Have you read the book? Perhaps it will change your mind one way or the other, the Haig debate is most certainly an important one in the history of the Great War and I’m sure it will make for some good discussion in the comments section.

Book 15: ‘In Flanders Fields’ by Linda Granfield and Janet Wilson

It’s often a tough topic to bring up with the children, but we are committed to educating future generations about the legacy of the Battle of Passchendaele and the Great War. As such, here’s quite a relevant one for the kids, which tells the story behind the poem they may have heard at commemorations you may have taken them too. ‘In Flander’s Fields : The Story of the Poem by John McCrae,’ comes recommended to us by Elise Hansen.

This book integrates facts about the war with the lines of the poem itself and holds true to the charges in McCrae’s verse. It follows the events that brought McCrae to pen the poem we all know well and does so in a very straightforward manner accompanied by impressive illustrations. It has large and simple text and even describes why the poppy has become an international symbol of remembrance. Well worth picking up, if you can track down the 2015 anniversary version which has a portrait of John McCrae on the front, you’ll be treated to a couple more illustrations. It’s less about the wider war and more about the poem so it will likely raise some questions that may encourage your children to learn more.

Book 16: ‘For King and Other Countries’ by Glyn Harper

Today we are very pleased to bring you a review of Passchendaele Society historian, Glyn Harper’s new book, ‘For King and Other Countries.’ Harper is one of New Zealand’s most accomplished and published military historians, with a fascinating outlook that comes from his own military service—which intertwined with his passion for history—as Harper was previously engaged as the NZ Army’s official historian. We are very lucky to have Glyn Harper as a part of our Passchendaele Society and are very grateful that he sent us a review copy of this fascinating new history. Glyn Harper’s previous work has often tackled some of the most critical moments in New Zealand’s experiences of the Great War such as the Somme or Passchendaele, yet with his latest book, Harper delves into what at first may seem an obscure topic. However, with his attention to detail and deft ability to weave together a narrative, Harper draws on some fascinating and untold stories and breaks new ground in NZ’s First World War scholarship.

With, ‘For King and Other Countries,’ we see the globe spanning stories of heroes and rascals related in Harper’s narrative tone. This book is more an anthology of the personal stories of Kiwis serving abroad than a general overview, though it does provide a series of maps, a roll of honour and a full list of references as any good history ought to. ‘For King and Other Countries,’ emphasises the true scale and global nature of the Great War and the many lives it changed forever. What may to some readers have seemed an unimportant or obscure topic, quickly develops into a collection of some of the most fascinating stories of the Great War that goes a long way in ensuring these New Zealanders are remembered. From New Zealanders fighting in the Indian Army or Gurkha rifles to the British Army or Australian Imperial Force or even for the German Empire—this is truly a unique collection of tales. It is a beautifully illustrated, hardcover book with many posters and studio photographs, adding to the reservoir of personality that this book has to offer. One of the most interesting pictures is of a Kiwi who served in the Indian Army, Kenneth Sinclair, resplendent in the Indian uniform of the 21st Frontier Force cavalry—complete with turban—this trooper was the first NZ born member of the Indian Army to be killed in action and is remembered through this ground breaking history.

Many of these men and women featured in the stories that Harper tells are decorated heroes. There are a number of notable examples of heroism from the four VC recipients and others such as Sister Ethel Mary Lewis, a nurse worked in hospitals on the Western Front, in Serbia and in the UK or James Waddell who served in the French Foreign Legion and won the Croix de Guerre and Legion d’honneur with seven palms. Not all were heroic, some were rascals and ne’er-do-wells such as James Glover who enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force no less than eight times—a record breaker at least. He was discharged for having been discovered to be a convicted criminal in New Zealand and after three more enlistments in Australia, he deserted his fourth posting. When Glover finally left for overseas service, he was arrested for drunken misbehaviour yet despite all of this, Glover was still awarded his Victory and British War Medals. It is these stories—which are full of character—that will win, ‘For King and Other Countries,’ a place in your library for it is through these stories of extraordinary Kiwis in extraordinary circumstances, that we can better understand the world they lived in and ensure that we remember them. It is great to see more histories being published lately that seek to fill in the gaps of our memories and broaden our remembrance to the often unsung heroes of the war, or even those that weren’t so heroic. ‘For King and Other Countries,’ by Glyn Harper along with, ‘The Obscure Heroes of Liberty,’ by Dr. Kenneth M. Baker and a number of other histories, are a part of an effort to ensure that we remember them all, by making us aware of the global scale of New Zealand’s involvement in the Great War.

Book 17: ‘Into the Unknown’ by Ian Trafford

‘Into the Unknown’ is an effective antidote to the prevalent idea that the soldiers of the Great War were willingly tragic heroes who offered themselves up on the altar of war. As a book, ‘Into the Unknown’ reads less like a diary and feels more like listening to a man tell the story of his journey. This is to the work’s credit as the delivery of Alick’s journey is a believable progression and one can see the effects of it on him as a result. Without wanting to give too much away, the span of Alick’s travels begins before the Great War meaning that we as readers, spend a lot of time with him throughout his life and it is for this reason that it is so effective.

Readers experience alongside Alick, many interesting aspects of the Great War and the extraordinary circumstances into which it casts him. In particular, relations with the locals are perhaps the most surprising and engaging of Alick’s writings. While they are often warm and welcoming, they are occasionally even dangerous and reveal much about people living in the middle of a global conflict, in which they do not always directly take part. An example of the potentially capricious nature of the civilian population is that at one point Alick and his comrades have their leave passes canceled due to concerns regarding poisoned wine in a french town near the German lines. The potentially ambiguous nature of the residents fuels perhaps the most striking characteristic of the soldiers one encounters reading ‘Into the Unknown:’ their paranoia.

Civilians not present after a deadly accurate artillery barrage are regarded as spies and the enemy’s munitions are not viewed as being sufficiently lethal on their own, as rumours spread that they are poisoned.

On the other side of the coin are examples such as a French civilian whom possesses such a burning hatred for the Germans, that they attempt to impale a prisoner by grabbing their guard’s bayonet. Other not so often told stories concern potential treachery as Alick mentions a soldier who deserted and may have been responsible for a deadly accurate spell of shelling. Behind each of these little episodes is surely a wider story, perhaps the civilian had lost family to the Germans, perhaps the ‘traitor’ was merely captured and the rumour of his treachery was spread to convince the soldiers that any man captured could potentially betray his comrades. There are a great many of these moments where Alick encounters something that prompts both him and the reader to think about what they have seen, this feeling becomes acutely apparent when one also gets a sense for the cruelty possible by one’s own side. Alick passes men shot or left out in humiliating field punishments and he sometimes leaves the impression that he and his comrades are held prisoner by their fellow soldiers when behind the lines. Nowhere else would one find an outbreak of measles as cause for a celebration than in the mind of a soldier considering the proposition of a quarantine as offering a welcome rest, such is the way in which ‘Into the Unknown’ tells its story, through the thoughts of its relatable protagonist.

Indeed, even if one has already learned a great deal about the Great War, this story sees many of those aspects of the war woven into a complete picture through the observant comments made by Alick. Into the Unknown’ succeeds in being a fascinating account, an exciting read and a deeply thought-provoking relation of the thoughts of a New Zealand soldier serving in the Great War. Indeed, many accounts of the Great War achieve this important connection between past and present, where one imagines themselves in the shoes of an ordinary person, cast into the most extraordinary circumstances. Yet, what sets ‘Into the Unknown’ apart is the way in which one gets to know Alick from his often small and outwardly genuine observations about the world around him. Alick considers it all from the more abstract concerns of the conflict to most often, the many intricate and sometimes overlooked finer details. Accordingly, one feels as though Alick is confiding in the reader and thus one receives from him a personal and occasionally confronting perspective on the realities of an industrialised World War, conducted with an army of mostly young, citizen fighting men. This is certainly a story that should not be missed though it is one that would be of greater benefit to older readers rather than younger children, as there are occasions where the content may be either complex or disturbing for them.

Book 18: In Flanders Fields - the diary of New Zealand soldier Monty Ingram as developed and released by Neil Ingram

Review coming soon…