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

On The Move Again

$29.99 NZD

Category: Second World War

Dunkirk by A. D. Divine

$28.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

This is the story of Dunkirk and of the men who planned it (insofar as it was planned) and of the men who carried it out, and of their ships. Mr Divine, who was himself with the small boats, writes with the authority of direct knowledge. He had the assistance of the men who were intimately concerned wit h planning and organising the operation. This is the true story of Dunkirk from its almost nebulous beginnings to the astonishing triumph of its end. ...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

Ake Ake Kia Kaha E! Forever Brave!: B Company 28th Maori Battalion 1939-1945 by Wira Gardiner

$50.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

A truly unique insight into the impact the Second World War had on the iwi of the central North Island and Bay of Plenty districts (including Te Arawa, Ngati Tuwharetoa, Tuhoe, Whanau-a-Apanui, Ngati Maru and Ngati Paoa) focusing on the region's war effort not only overseas, but also at home and in gove rnment. Through personal recollections, eyewitness accounts, numerous anecdotes and highly illustrated throughout, the book tells the fascinating story of the B Company's war, capturing the special `spirit' of the Maori Battalion. Features over 200 images, many not seen in print before, plus hundreds of portraits of the men of B Company (650+ our of approx 900 who served) generously provided by whanau. Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Harawira "Wira" Tiri Gardiner, KNZM, is a former professional soldier, senior public servant and writer. He was contracted to write B Company's history in 2015. His tribal affiliations are Ngati Awa, Ngati Pikiao, Whakatohea and Te Whanua-a-Apanui. ...Show more

Here Come the Marines: Warkworth, 1943 (My New Zealand Story) by Lorraine Orman

$10.00 NZD

Category: Second World War | Series: My New Zealand Story

In late 1942 Margaret Glenmore realises that daughter Joyce, who is doing a secretarial course, will probably be manpowered into a war job soon, when the age limit is dropped to 18. Her other daughter, Lillian, is coughing a lot and an x-ray has shown a spot on her lung. Lillian needs to live in a healt hy environment with lots of good food. These factors combine to make Margaret decide to send the girls to live with their grandparents on a small dairy farm on the coast. Lillian's diary begins in 1943 when she and Joyce travel north to Warkworth to stay with their grandparents. Neither girl is keen to go. But at the end of February the US troops arrive - all 5,000 of them - and life becomes more exciting! ...Show more

New Zealand's Great War: New Zealand & Allies and the First World War by John Crawford & Ian McGibbon (eds)

$25.00 NZD

Category: Second World War | Reading Level: very good

This book is a collection of essays arising out of the 'Zealandia's Great War' conference organised by the New Zealand Military History Committee in November 2003. In 32 essays by distinguished military historians from New Zealand and around the world, various aspects of New Zealand's involvement in Wor ld War One are discussed. Subjects include the Pioneer Maori Battalion, women who opposed the war, the early years of the RSA, Gallipoli, the infantry on the Somme, New Zealand's involvement in the naval war, prostitution and the New Zealand soldier, the Home Defence, religion in the First World War, and the Armistice. New Zealand's Great War is a fascinating miscellany of informed comment on and insight into the event that did most to shape New Zealand as a nation. Contributors include New Zealand's own Chris Pugsley, Glyn Harper, Terry Kinloch, Monty Soutar, Megan Hutching, Vincent Orange and Bronwyn Dalley, as well as Peter Dennis, Jeffrey Grey, Jennifer Keene, Jenny McLeod, Pierre Purseigle, Peter Stanley and Gary Sheffield from overseas. First published March 2007. ...Show more

From the Blitz to the Burmese Jungle & Beyond by Karen McMillan

$15.00 NZD

Category: Second World War | Reading Level: Near Fine

One man's memoir of World War II which took him from the Blitz to the jungles of Burma, to the devastation of Hiroshima.'I consider myself lucky to have survived the global carnage still myself - a reluctant soldier who had to go to war, who only ever wanted peace for everyone.' Brian HennessyBrian immi grated to New Zealand after the war and lived there until his death aged ninety-two, but he never forgot his extraordinary war adventures. This is his story.Born in Germany to English parents, Brian Hennessy came from a family who served in the army. He was seventeen years old and living in London when war broke out. He experienced the Blitz first-hand. Brian joined the British Army and upon graduating, he became the youngest armament artificer. What follows is a true adventure story as Brian journeys via South Africa to India and the remote jungles of Burma. Danger was always present, and his narrative is sometimes humorous, at other times poignant. At the end of war, he went to Japan and saw first-hand the devastation at Hiroshima. This is his story, a sweeping journey though the landscape of war and far more fascinating and exciting than any fiction. ...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

Unposted Letters: from a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp 1942 - 1945 by Jack Maddever

$15.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

Jack Maddever would never talk about his war experiences, but he kept a record in his letters which were never posted. He carried them home on his return in 1945 and they provide a glimpse into his day-to-day existence while in a POW camp in Palembang, Indonesia. In three years Jack's weight dropped fro m nearly 13 stone (82.5kg) to under 7 stone (44.5kg). Jack died in 1982. His letters, compiled by his widow Lorna Manson, show us his struggle to survive those long years of incarceration while turbulent events were taking place at home and overseas. ...Show more

I Was No Soldier by Ted Lewis

$40.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

A Kiwi medics' impressions of WWII through a fine literary, photographic, and artistic effort.

Fallout by Lesley Blume

$40.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

New York Times bestselling author Lesley Blume reveals how a courageous reporter uncovered one of greatest and deadliest cover-ups of the 20th century -- the true effects of the atom bomb -- potentially saving millions of lives. In the days following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the J apanese surrendered unconditionally. But even before the surrender, the US had begun a secret propaganda campaign to celebrate these weapons as the ultimate peacekeepers -- hiding the true extent and nature of their devastation. The cover-up intensified as Americans closed the atomic cities to Allied reporters, preventing information from leaking about the horrific and lasting effects of radiation which would kill thousands of people during the months after the blast. For nearly a year the cover-up worked -- until New Yorkerjournalist John Hersey got into Hiroshima and reported the truth to the world. As Hersey and his editors prepared his article for publication, they kept the whistleblowing story secret -- even from most of their New Yorkercolleagues. When the magazine published 'Hiroshima' in August, 1946, it became an instant global sensation, and inspired pervasive horror about the weapons that had been covertly waged in America's name. Since 1945, no nuclear weapons have ever been deployed in war in part because Hersey alerted the world to their true, devastating impact. This knowledge has remained among the greatest deterrents to using them since the end of World War II. Released on the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Fallout is an engrossing detective story, as well as an important piece of hidden history that shows how one heroic scoop saved -- and can still save -- the world. ...Show more