An Awfully Big Adventure

Home Again. New Zealand soldiers gradually arrived home. Because so many ships had been sunk during the war, it took a long time to get them back. Audio

The Armistice and Afterwards. New Zealand soldiers on the Western Front gradually heard that the Armistice had been signed. Audio

The Sinai-Palestine Campaign and the Battle of Gaza, March 1917. While most New Zealanders were on the Western Front, the men of the Mounted Rifles and their horses were engaged in the Sinai-Palestine… Audio

Back to the Somme. In March 1918 the Germans staged a 'Spring Offensive', breaking through on the Somme and heading for Amiens. The New Zealanders and Australians were thrown in to stop them. Audio

After Passchendaele. 845 New Zealand soldiers died at Passchendaele and alsmot 3000 more were wounded. Audio

Passchendaele. On October 1917, the New Zealand division fought the two battles we call Passchendaele. The first, on October 4th, was a minor victory. The second, on 12th October, would be the worst… Audio

Messines. From late 1916 New Zealand was conscripting men to go to the war. On June 7th 1917, the NZ Division took part in the Battle of Messines. Audio

The Sinai-Palestine Campaign. While most New Zealanders were on the Western Front, the men of the Mounted Rifles and thier horses were engaged in a campaign to push the Turks up through Egypt into… Audio

The Western Front. By late 1916 the New Zealanders had settled into life in the trenches on the Western Front. Audio

The Battle of the Somme. In September 1916 New Zealanders on the Western Front joined the long-running Battle of the Somme. Audio

To the Western Front. The Gallipoli survivors left the peninsula in December 1915 and returned to Egypt where new reinforcements arrived from New Zealand. In April 1916 the NZ Division was formed and… Audio

Chunuk Bair. After three months on the Gallipoli peninsula, New Zealander troops set off to capture the heights of Chunuk Bair. Audio

The Gallipoli Campaign. On 24th May, almost a month after the Anzacs had landed, a one-day armistice was held to bury the massive number of dead. Audio

The Gallipoli Campaign. Having landed in Egypt in December 1914, the New Zealander Expeditionary Force spent the first three months training on the desert sands. Audio

The Outbreak of War. WW1 began on 4th August 1914. Thousands of men enlisted immediately to fight for the British Empire. Audio