A Field Officer's Notebook by Dan Davin

$29.95 NZD

Category: Second World War | Reading Level: New

Dan Davin, best known for his prose fiction, memoirs, and work in academic publishing, also wrote poetry. Not that he wrote poetry throughout his life; rather, it was almost exclusively written in three discrete periods: during the mid-to-late thirties while at university in New Zealand and England; dur ing the Second World War while on service in Greece, North Africa, and Italy; and after his retirement from the Clarendon Press in Oxford and in nearby Dorchester in the mid-eighties. A FIELD OFFICER'S NOTEBOOK makes this body of work available to general readers for the first time. Although all Davin's poems deserve to be read, those he wrote during his time as an intelligence officer with the Second New Zealand Division are revelatory and ought to be given their due as much by students of literature as by those of modern warfare. Quite unlike anything in New Zealand literature--exacting yet generous, angry but tender, almost sui generis--they speak strangely of even stranger things that defined a generation. Davin's poems speak unguardedly and disarmingly about one man's life . . . in a voice that haunts long after it has been heard.' --from the introduction by Robert McLean. ...Show more

Heroes of Gallipoli by Richard Stowers

$75.00 NZD

Category: First World War

With the centenary of the First World War upon us in 2015, Richard Stowers has written this book to increase the awareness of the unpretentious gallantry and service by New Zealanders during the Gallipoli campaign. The book details the bravery and distinguished service of men and women of the 1st echelo n of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the Gallipoli campaign. In some ways those listed in the book were the lucky ones whose courage was officially recognised. Many more who did heroic acts were not so fortunate, and their actions were never officially recognised due to the fortunes of war. Often overshadowed by the exploits of the Australians who were awarded nine Victoria Crosses during the Gallipoli campaign, time and time again the New Zealanders were denied gallantry medals by their high command. New Zealand can be rightly proud of these men and women who did extraordinary deeds during times of danger, hardship and peril. ...Show more

To the Memory: New Zealand's War Memorials by Jock Phillips

$15.00 NZD

$59.99 (75% off)

Category: Military History

Over 30,000 New Zealanders have died in wars since 1840. They have been remembered in the more than a thousand memorials put up in public places throughout New Zealand. Except on Anzac Day, most people pass by these monuments without really looking at them. Yet a huge amount of social energy and resourc es went into creating the memorials, which were the largest act of artistic patronage in the country's history. This beautiful book, based on over 30 years of loving research by Jock Phillips, one of the nation's leading historians, tells the fascinating story of who erected them and why, and the diverse forms chosen for the memorials tells us much about New Zealand identity and the tragedy of war. The story begins with the memorials to the New Zealand Wars, explores the sculpted monuments to the South African and First World wars, and then the 'living memorials' to the Second World War, and concludes with the many imaginative creations in the 2000s. Illustrated with over 200 photographs, To the Memory will appeal to those whose relatives are named on memorials, those with an interest in war history, people who wish to discover the history of the creative arts, enthusiasts for New Zealand's built heritage, along with anyone who cares about this country, for its story goes to the heart of New Zealand identity ...Show more

Te Hokowhitu a Tu: The Maori Pioneer Battalion in the First World War by Christopher Pugsley

$40.00 NZD

Category: First World War | Reading Level: Very Good

Maori soldiers signing up for the First World War representing a formidable fighting force - Te Hokowhitu a Tu, or the Seventy twice-told warriors of the war god, Tumatauenga. Some 2,227 Maori and 458 Pacific Islanders enlisted with the Maori Pioneer Battalion, providing an essential element in the New Zealand Division's fighting effort, and earning a reputation for bravery and dependability in France, Flanders and beyond. Prejudice kept the Maori Pioneer Battalion well back from the front lines as support troops, but their war efforts won them rights as full citizens of their homelands. Drawing on rare archival material and previously unpublished diaries and letters, Te Hokowhitu a Tu is the authoritative account of Maori and Pacific Islanders in the First World War, and balances the wider story of the Pioneer Battalion's exploits with a portrait of daily life for soldiers who labored not only against the enemy but also racism behind their own lines. It includes numerous photographs and a full list of those who fought with the Battalion. ...Show more

A History of the Wairarapa Aero Club 1929-2019 by John G. Hill; Carol Hill; Wairarapa Aero Club Staff (Contribution by)

$20.00 NZD

Category: First World War

Voices from a Border War: Borneo 1963-1965 by Robert Gurr

$45.00 NZD

Category: Other Wars | Reading Level: New

The factual accounts of the preparation and commitment to active operations of a Regular New Zealand battalion are at the core of this narrative. To many outsiders, the confrontation activities of Indonesia from 1963 to 1966 were something of a sideshow on the world stage. If they were, the resulting co mmitment by Britain, Australia and New Zealand to assist Malaysia in the struggle was at a high cost in Indonesian lives and money. The internal revolt and bloodbath which occurred in October/November 1965 cost President Sukarno power, and his country much misery in the immediate aftermath. Confrontation was a low intensity conflict, though it had periods of great activity, and was not short on physical demands, or the need for sharp responses when the enemy was encountered. The recollections which some of the members of the battalion have sent me are factual. I have used official records, war diaries and Post Operational Reports to authenticate dates and events. Confrontation against the Borneo States of Sarawak and Sabah began in 1963, and with it came the declared intention of Indonesia to 'crush' Malaysia. Like the half-hearted reaction by the rest of the world to her invasion of Timor, Indonesia no doubt felt, at the outset of Confrontation, that the Borneo States would fall, like a ripe plum, into her lap. It was not until the Indonesians sent armed groups into the Malay peninsula, in August and September 1964, that the New Zealand Government gave 1 RNZIR permission to assist in anti-confrontation operations. ...Show more

Ketchil: A New Zealand Pilot's War in Asia and the Pacific by Neil Frances

$24.95 NZD

Category: Second World War

In April 1940, a 20 year-old farm boy from South Wairarapa joined the RNZAF as a trainee pilot. By war's end, in August 1945, Vic Bargh had flown 17 aircraft types, including the ill-fated Brewster Buffalo, survived almost 200 operations in the Far East and the Pacific, and been awarded the Distinguishe d Flying Cross. His dreams of flying were fulfilled in DH60 Moths and Chance Vought Corsairs - 100-hp to 2200-hp. At wars end, Vic Bargh turned his back on aviation and became an innovative, large herd dairy farmer. Ketchil is the war story of Charles Victor Bargh, published to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. He was a survivor of the largely forgotten air war over Burma and India. In bringing his war to life, and that of many other New Zealand airmen, Neil Frances has combined oral history, wartime letters, unpublished photographs and three years of research. ...Show more

Searching for Charlie: In Pursuit of the Real Charles Upham VC and Bar by Tom Scott

$49.99 NZD

Category: Second World War

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 i ntrigued 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. ...Show more

Le Quesnoy 1918 by Christopher Pugsley

$40.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

The New Zealand Division's capture of the French town of Le Quesnoy was its last and most successful action in the First World War. Breaking through defensive lines and scaling the town walls by ladder, the New Zealanders overwhelmed the defenders, freeing the town after years of German occupation. It w as a victory that resounded around the world, and helped convince German high command they could no longer hold the front. Based on his intimate knowledge of the landscape and those involved, Christopher Pugsley puts together the story with his mastery of drama and detail - producing a book that is thrilling at the same time as a tribute to the New Zealanders who died (and whose details are fully recorded here for the first time). Strikingly illustrated with maps, photographs and the stunning paintings of the battle by George Butler, Le Quesnoy 1918 will be an inspiring read for this summer and many seasons beyond. ...Show more

With Them Through Hell: New Zealand Medical Services in the First World War by Anna Rogers

$65.00 NZD

Category: First World War | Reading Level: near fine

The thousands of New Zealand men who fought in the First World War went through hell. And right beside them was another fighting force, armed with scalpels, bandages and drugs. Hundreds of doctors, nurses, stretcher-bearers, orderlies and ambulance drivers,dentists, chiropodists, pharmacists, physiother apists and chaplains cared for the sick and wounded, often at great personal risk. Veterinarians did the same for horses, camels and other animals. The challenges were enormous - horrific injuries, gas and deadly diseases, especially the influenza of 1918. There were some astonishing successes - most famously by plastic surgery pioneers Harold Gillies and Henry Pickerill - but the price was high, for patients and carers. The skilled, compassionate and courageous New Zealand medical personnel of the Great War have not always received the attention they deserve. Anna Rogers tells their remarkable story. ...Show more

From Cairo to Cassino: A Memoir of Paddy Costello by Dan Davin

$25.00 NZD

Category: Second World War | Reading Level: new

In From Cairo to Cassino Dan Davin writes of the wartime days of his friendship with the extraordinary Paddy Costello. Paddy Costello, along with John Mulgan, Geoffrey Cox, Ian Milner, James Bertram, and Dan Davin, was one of a cast of young scholars who made seemingly peripheral yet lasting contributio ns to the New Zealand post-war cultural landscape. But Costello, despite his great many gifts, never quite found his place in the world and he remains an elusive and contradictory figure, someone whose reputation rests on what he could have done rather than on what he did. Yet he continues to fascinate by his very elusiveness. vPaddy Costello was also the best friend of Dan Davin: expatriate publisher, editor, novelist, short-story writer, poet, raconteur, and not least of all an indefatigably generous host and friend to many New Zealand writers. From Cairo to Cassino recounts the beginnings and the deepening of their friendship as they talked, tippled and fought their way through North Africa and Italy. Spanning Davins embarkation with 2 New Zealand Division at Alexandria, as it headed towards its mauling in Greece and on Crete, through to the day of the bombing of Monte Cassino, this book is many things: gentle and impassioned, candid and ironical, recondite and visceral. It is also often very funny. One of Davins last significant works and perhaps the one in which he made his deepest personal investment, From Cairo to Cassino confirms that he was one of our finest memoirists, as he lovingly brings Costello back to life in all his sound and fury. A significant addition to New Zealands literature of the Second World War, this is a special book that deserves to be read and reread. While it has been quoted from in biographies of Davin and Costello, this is the first publication of the full text. ...Show more

Enduring Love

$40.00 NZD

Category: Military History