Christmas cake cuties
Not everyone loves traditional Christmas cake, but what’s not to love about these cute Christmas cake decorations? These miniature Santas are part of a collection of cake decorations associated with...
View ArticleA Princess’s present for Chrismas
The war that erupted in Europe in August 1914 was supposed to over by Christmas that year. This confident view did not stop Princess Mary, the only daughter of King George V (he appears on the poster...
View ArticleWonderful days of holiday happiness
Summer holidays are over. Some schools have re-opened and offices have filled up with workers returning to their routines. As for Christmas – well that feels like ancient history now. But you can...
View ArticleMaori soldiers that served at Gallipoli
In our second blog ahead of our new exhibition Gallipoli: The scale of our war opening on April 18, Maori curator Puawai Cairns reveals some of her research into a Maori soldier that served at...
View ArticleIntroducing Spencer Westmacott: farmer, soldier, artist
Behind every man in uniform is a rich story. Spencer Westmacott (1885-1960) was an officer with the 16th Waikato Regiment which departed New Zealand for the First World War in October 1914. His story...
View ArticleNZ’s WWI hospital ship and Annie’s autographs
This embroidered cloth was created on the New Zealand hospital ship Maheno as it steamed its way north to Egypt in July and August 1915. The words stitched on it are actually the signatures of the...
View ArticleWriting Gallipoli: The scale of our war – Part 1
In our latest Gallipoli blog, Te Papa’s Head Writer Frith Williams takes you behind the scenes with the writers of the exhibition. ‘By jove it was awful’: Writing from the soldiers’ perspective...
View ArticleWWI case studies of courage and despair
In May this year, Road to Recovery: Disabled Soldiers of World War I closed, after its ten-month-long display at Te Papa. This exhibition, which explored how New Zealand soldiers disabled by World War...
View ArticleWriting ‘Gallipoli: The scale of our war’– Part 3
How did you go with the Great War Word Quiz set by Te Papa’s Head Writer Frith Williams a few weeks ago? If you got 10/10, then you’re an A1 digger! Now read Frith’s latest blog in which she explores...
View ArticlePrivate Jack Dunn: The scale of his war
This is the fourth blog in our series about the real people behind the larger-than-life sculptures featured in Gallipoli: The scale of our war. This is the story of John Robert Dunn, known as ‘Jack’,...
View ArticleBrothers and sisters: The scale of our war
Through military nursing, a group of more than 500 New Zealand women participated directly in the Great War, including Lottie (Charlotte) Le Gallais, who is our seventh larger-than-life figure in...
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Where have all the Gallipoli poppies gone?
Gallipoli: The scale of our war marked its first anniversary this week, on Monday 18th April. The phenomenal numbers visiting the exhibition have left an enormous number of poppies in the shell crater...
View ArticleDissent during the First World War: by the numbers
Guest blogger Jared Davidson asks how historians and others have measured and defined dissent, sedition and conscientious objection to military conscription during the Great War. The new statistics he...
View ArticleThe Battle of the Somme, September 1916: survival and loss
Guest blogger and long-serving, recently retired Te Papa history curator Michael Fitzgerald introduces the Battle of the Somme, and one man who survived the ferocious fighting that occurred there 100...
View Article‘A taste of hell’: Cecil Malthus on the Somme
Finding Cecil Malthus in a muddy shell hole at the end of Gallipoli: The scale of our war reminds visitors that many Gallipoli veterans like Cecil went on to face more hardship on the Western Front....
View ArticleOne million visitors: myriad meanings
Yesterday Te Papa achieved a significant milestone when Gallipoli: The scale of our war’s one millionth visitor and a friend were escorted through the exhibition. That number is almost equal to New...
View ArticleA ‘gamble in human life’: military conscription begins 100 years ago
In 1916, after two years of fighting, it was clear that New Zealanders’ loyalty to ‘King and Country’ was competing with other concerns – and fewer men were volunteering. History curator Kirstie Ross...
View ArticleThe missing Military Cross from the Battle of Messines
Wyville Rutherford’s ‘conspicuous gallantry’ during the Battle of Messines won him a Military Cross. But the medal, like Wyville, didn’t make it back to New Zealand. History curator Kirstie Ross shares...
View ArticleFor family or for Empire? The risks of staying home during war
This month we acknowledge the military service of the New Zealand troops who fought in and died during the devastating Battle of Passchendaele 100 years ago. However, in this blog, history curator...
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