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

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

$25.00 NZD

Category: Second World War | Reading Level: new

Politics of Forgetting: New Zealand, Greece and Britan at War by Martyn Brown

$55.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

Greece was a poor country in turmoil and pain during the 1940s. A military dictatorship was followed by invasion and terrifying occupation by Germany and its allies, starvation, civil war, political unrest and mutiny in its free military armed forces. New Zealand entered this arena and found a bond with a people that it still celebrates to this day. Absent is the complex, divisive and sometimes violent and surreal relationship between the two countries and the inescapable influence of Britain. Their story stretches from the mountains and open country of Greece and Crete to Middle East deserts, autumn-swept plains of Italy, and the blood-splattered streets of post-liberated Athens. Ironically New Zealand has forgotten the unpalatable but also sacrificed something that would have enhanced its own national storytelling about the war. ...Show more

The Thirty-Niners

$29.99 NZD

Category: Second World War

The Guinea Pig Club by E. R. Mayhew

$39.99 NZD

Category: Second World War

• Authoritative account of New Zealand plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe and his pioneering work in the Second World War • Celebrates the legendary Guinea Pig Club he formed • Inspiring, moving story with new foreword by Prince Harry  “Mayhew is to be commended on an outstandi ng addition to expanding our knowledge …” Airforce Magazine Plastic surgery was in its infancy before the Second World War. The Allies were tremendously fortunate in having the New Zealand surgeon Archibald McIndoe operating at a small hospital in East Grinstead in the south of England. McIndoe set up a revolutionary treatment regime for survivors of plane crashes. He secured his group of patients — dubbed the Guinea Pig Club — an honoured place in society as heroes of the air war. For the first time official records have been used to explore this remarkable relationship between the Guinea Pig Club, the RAF and the Home Front. This New Zealand/UK/Canada co-edition includes new material on McIndoe’s origins and a foreword by HRH Prince Harry, and links to a major new film Dr Emily Mayhew is a military medical historian specialising in the study of severe casualty. She is the historian in residence in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London and a research fellow in the Division of Surgery. She is the author of several other books. ...Show more

The Luftwaffe and the War at Sea: As Seen by Officers of the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe by David Isby

$60.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

The Luftwaffe and the War at Sea is a collection of fascinating accounts written by Germany military officers - both Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe - about the naval war in the air in the North Atlantic and around Great Britain. Most of the documents were written immediately postwar as part of the Allied de briefing programme though some are wartime German originals produced for internal use by military staffs, but all have the value of immediacy; they were written when memories were fresh and, in many case, by those who were directly caught up in the actions. These men were personal involved in all aspects of the German attempts to control the seas through maritime power, from the use of Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers during the invasion of Norway to the missions of FW 200 Kondors in cooperation with the U-boat campaign against Britain's Atlantic lifelines. The writers include such well-known names as Grossadmiral Karl Doenitz, Kontreadmiral Gerhard Wagner, General der Flieger Ulrich O E Kessler and Vizeadmiral Eberhard Weichold. The history recounted in these reports is unique and first-hand, allowing the reader a fresh perspective on those famous campaigns. Furthermore, much of that wartime experience was harnessed during the formation of the Bundersmarine's Marineflieger in the 1950s that then served throughout the Cold War and today is participating in the global war on terror with its Atlantic marine patrols. ...Show more

The Battle for Vella Lavella - The Allied Recapture of Solomon Islands Territory, August 15-September 9 1943 by Reg Newell

$35.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

During World War II, the Solomon Islands became the scene of a titanic struggle between Allied and Japanese forces. After their victory on Guadalcanal, Americans advanced into the New Georgia Group with horrendous casualties. Admiral Halsey then implemented an "island hopping" strategy, bypassing Japane se strongpoints. The first was an obscure island called "Vella Lavella." This book is the first detailed examination of the struggle for Vella Lavella, covering the ground, air and sea battles and the involvement of American and New Zealand soldiers, the coastwatchers, South Pacific Scouts and the Islanders. ...Show more

From Cassino to Trieste by E.B. Paterson

$30.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

This is the candid story of his service, first as a corporal, then as a commissioned officer. CASSINO to TRIESTE documents the demands placed on the men who fought for our freedom, and the exacting expectations some had for their own behaviour.

Dog in the Snow: The Story of the Middle East Ski School by Paul Koorey

$65.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

He was an Alsatian called Rex, who lived among the snows of the mountains of Lebanon and Syria. When the author first met him, in November 1941, Rex belonged to a Bishop of the Maronite Church. Rec disliked strangers, but James Riddell proved an exception. The dog became his devoted companion at the new ly-formed ski instruction school which the author was appointed to command. Rex was a great favourite with the troops who came to the school from all regiments and nations - Australians, New Zealanders, Greeks, Gurkhas, and British. This is Rex's story and theirs. Dog in the Snow is an informative book about an almost unknown war-time activity, written with great charm and humour. All who love animals, and particularly those who can understand the fascination of skiing, will delight in the book. ...Show more

28 (Maori) Battalion: Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force by J. F. Cody

$60.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

John Douglas Publishing is delighted to be able to produce this work with kind permission from Manatu Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the 28 Maori Battalion Association. This is the official history of one of the greatest fighting infantry units of World War II, the 28(Maori) Battalion. We have done everything possible to ensure the book is as close to the original, printed in 1956. As Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg wrote in the Foreword to the book: "In this history you will read the whole story - how they went overseas from New Zealand in 1940, with the Second Echelon to England, to take part in 'The Battle of Britain'. When the threat of invasion diminished they re-embarked for the Middle East, and arrived in time to take part in the disastrous campaigns in Greece and Crete. Later they fought in the 1941 Libyan Campaign and in the battles in 1942 in defence of Egypt. Later, when the tide changed, they took an active part in the victorious Western Desert Campaign, under Generals Alexander and Montgomery. They finished the war in Italy on the 2nd May 1945. "In all these many campaigns this Battalion took a great part, often a decisive part, in the fighting, as in the counter-attacks at Maleme and 42nd Street in the Cretan Campaign, or again in the Battle of Tebaga Gap, where gallant and young Ngarimu gained his posthumous Victoria Cross, or in the capture of Takrouna. But as glorious as these battles were, and as gallant and brave as was the Maori part, it is not only of their bravery but what fine fighting men they were. "To know and appreciate their great qualities you must understand their background and their tribal traditions. Maori are a fighting race, and according to their traditions and in keeping with the laws of New Zealand, they did not come under the National Service Act, which called up men when they reached the military age. The Maori was always a volunteer. For them it was an honour to serve. ...Show more

Operation Goodtime and the Battle of the Treasury Islands, 1943: The World War II Invasion by United States and New Zealand Forces by Reg Newell

$35.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

A force of New Zealanders and Americans invaded the Treasury Islands in the South Pacific on October 27, 1943, retaking them from their Japanese occupiers. Codenamed Operation Goodtime, the action marked the first time New Zealand forces took part in an opposed landing since Gallipoli in 1915. In an unu sual allocation of troops in the American-dominated theater, New Zealand provided the fighting men and America the air, naval, and logistical support. Confronting extreme risks against a determined Japanese foe, the Allies nevertheless succeeded with relatively few casualties. Because of the need for operational security, Operation Goodtime received little publicity and has been relegated to a footnote in the history of the war in the Pacific. This is the first complete account of the Allied seizure of the Treasury Islands. ...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