New Zealanders At Gallipoli

New Zealanders at Gallipoli These popular histories of New Zealand's share in the Great War are designed to present to the people of New Zealand the inspiring record of the work of our sons and daughters overseas. It was recognized that the Official History would necessitate considerable research, would take a long time to write, and then must be largely a study of strategy and tactics; but something—that would be concise and interesting, not expensive, and available at once—seemed desirable. It was decided to avoid the style of an Official History and select as writers soldiers who had themselves fought with the N.Z.E.F. through the several campaigns; soldiers recognized by their comrades as authorities on the campaigns with which they deal; soldiers who themselves have experienced the hopes and fears, the trials and the ultimate triumph of the men in the ranks.

Reviews historical reporting of the number of NZ ANZAC troops present at Gallipoli.

Revealing and often heartbreaking, this collection of letters offers a powerful firsthand account of a pivotal event in New Zealand history: World War I's Gallipoli Campaign in 1915. Grouped in chronological order, the correspondence—gathered from archives, newspapers, and family collections—details the campaign's harrowing conditions and key events, from preparation and landing on the Ottoman peninsula to the December withdrawal. In these epistles, the intense emotions of the men who survived the trenches are made known, whether it be jubilation at ground gained or sorrow at the passing of friends. Biographical notes on the letter writers, historic photographs, and a comprehensive introduction are also included.

Alexander Aitken was an ordinary soldier with an extraordinary mind. The student who enlisted in 1915 was a mathematical genius who could multiply nine-digit numbers in his head. He took a violin with him to Gallipoli (where field telephone wire substituted for an E-string) and practiced Bach on the Western Front. Aitken also loved poetry and knew the Aeneid and Paradise Lost by heart. His powers of memory were dazzling. When a vital roll-book was lost with the dead, he was able to dictate the full name, regimental number, next of kin and address of next of kin for every member of his former platoon—a total of fifty-six men. Everything he saw, he could remember. Aitken began to write about his experiences in 1917 as a wounded out-patient in Dunedin Hospital. Every few years, when the war trauma caught up with him, he revisited the manuscript, which was eventually published as Gallipoli to the Somme in 1963. Aitken writes with a unique combination of restraint, subtlety, and an almost photographic vividness. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society of Literature on the strength of this single work—a book recognised by its first reviewers as a literary memoir of the Great War to put alongside those by Graves, Blunden and Sassoon. Long out of print, this is by some distance the most perceptive memoir of the First World War by a New Zealand soldier. For this edition, Alex Calder has written a new introduction, annotated the text, compiled a selection of images, and added a commemorative index identifying the soldiers with whom Aitken served.

"On 25 April 1915 New Zealand troops land ed at Anzac cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula ... This book is a study of the strategic and defence background to New Zealand's participation in this tragic campaign. It examines the evolution of New Zealand's external defence policy from teh establishment of the colony in 1840 in 1840, and outlines the process whereby New Zealand's focus shifted from a narrow South Pacific perspective to a concern for the security of the British Empire as a whole. In defending the integrity of the Imperial Defence system, New Zealand hoped to ensure its own position ..."--Inside front cover.

"The New Zealanders at Gallipoli," was researched and compiled by Major Fred Waite (21 August 1885 – 29 August 1952), D.S.O., N.Z.E., C.M.G., V.D., who served with the main body and the N.Z. & A. Division as a Staff Officer of Engineers during the Great War. During the Second World War, Waite was overseas commissioner for the National Patriotic Fund Board and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services in this role. In the introduction he wrote “These popular histories of New Zealand's share in the Great War are designed to present to the people of New Zealand the inspiring record of the work of our sons and daughters overseas.” The movements of the ANZACs are traced from their various points of departure around New Zealand, via Australia to Colombo, Aden and through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to eventual disembarkation at Alexandria, Egypt. After a spell of training in Egypt, the Anzacs were shipped across the Mediterranean to the Gallipoli peninsula in the Dardanelles in Northwest Turkey with an objective to capturing the peninsula as a prelude to invading Turkey and capturing Istanbul. Waite details the landing of the ANZACs on 25 April 1915, the many skirmishes and drives to get the “upper hand” and the eventual evacuation in December 1915. Also included are many photographs of the terrain, encampments and maps to put the images into context, all of which give the reader a good feel for layout and the conditions being experienced by the troops. To this day, 25 April is celebrated in New Zealand and Australia as "Anzac Day". The Dardanelles were known in Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont, and in effect forms the continental boundary between Europe and Asia. Their importance was recognised as far back as 482BC. Herodotus tells us that at this time Xerxes I of Persia (the son of Darius the Great) had two pontoon bridges built across the width of the Hellespont at Abydos, in order that his huge army could cross from Persia into Greece. History also tells us they were vital to the defence of Constantinople during the Byzantine period of History (330AD – 1453AD). Their importance was also recognised by the Ottoman Empire (1354AD –1922AD) which was allied to Germany during the Great War, hence the attempt by the Allies to wrest control of the Dardanelles from Turkey in 1915.

Gallipoli is perhaps New Zealand's most enduring myth, our 'finest hour', a bitter, bloody and tragic campaign in which 2721 young men lost their lives of the 8556 who fought there. The campaign is glorified in our observance of Anzac Day, but the true story of New Zealand's involvement has never been comprehensively told. Army historian Christopher Pugsley, an expert in the campaign, has now collated his extensive research and interviews with survivors to provide a narrative which takes into account every aspect of Gallipoli and its impact on both the New Zealanders who fought there and on the country that sent them. Gallipoli - The New Zealand Story provides the first major evaluation of one of our most important historical events, and many decades after the battle, strips bare the myth of Anzac and does justice to the reality of that epic campaign.

Contains over 55 photos and 10 maps. “Someone once remarked that the ‘NZ’ in ANZAC is silent, and perhaps people associate ANZAC especially with Australia with its ANZAC Day parade and commemorative services. This book, part of the Official History of New Zealand’s effort in the Great War, clearly shows the extent of New Zealand’s part in that ill-fated Gallipoli campaign. The NZEF sailed from Wellington on 16th October 1914, in all 351 officers and 7410 other ranks making four infantry battalions, four mounted rifles regiments, an artillery brigade, sappers, signals, medical and other divisional troops. They disembarked in Alexandria on 3rd December and the infantry battalions were attached to the Canal defence force where, in February 1915 they had their first brush with the Turks, repelling an attack on the Canal. In Egypt they combined with Australian troops to form the New Zealand and Australian Division, landing on Gallipoli on 25th April 1915. By the end of the campaign they had suffered 7,197 battle casualties (Medical History of the War ) or almost one hundred per cent of the original expeditionary force. [It] gives a clear picture of the terrain over which the battles were fought, the climate, the conditions, the intensity of the fighting and a realistic account of the horrors of the battlefield. The easy-to-read text is supported by a wealth of contemporary photos and clear maps. There is a list of honours ... (one VC) including Mention in Despatches .... The appendices also contain tables showing ships transporting the NZEF and which units each carried; the ships carrying the division to Gallipoli; the detailed strengths, by units, of the original expeditionary force and subsequent units raised during the Gallipoli campaign. There is a very useful glossary of all the place names mentioned in the text with translation of some of the Turkish features e.g., Tepe, a hill; Kale, a fort; and there is a Gallipoli Diary.” —N&M Print Ed.