The Dominion TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 1918. A HISTORY OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 225, 11 June 1918, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 1918. A HISTORY OF THE WAR

New Zealand soldiers have been making history for nearly four years, and it is quite time that a systematic effort was made towards the compilation of a record in vhich their deeds will live again for the benefit of our own and a later''age. In this war nations are fighting their way through sorrow and suffering to a new era of light and progress. That our manhood has played and will play to the end a great and noble part in the struggle upon which the fate of humanity depends is incomparably the greatest fact in the history of New Zealand, and we should prove ourselves utterly unworthy of the men who'have fought and died for us in many theatres of war if wc neglected to set down the most enduring record of these days .that the resources at our command will permit. Indifference is not, of course, tlw explanation of any neglect of which wo have been guilty in this matter. The heart of every true New Zcalandcr warms at the thought of what New Zealand soldiers have dared and accomplished and at tho knowledge that valour and long service have won them a proud place amongst the bravest armies in the field. But there is a serious _ danger that tho flood of events in the war may cause us to overlook or forgot passages in the fortunes of our fighting men which should be embalmed for all time in history. There is a place to be filled which can be filled in no other way than by an intimate account of the achievements and experiences of tho New Zealand Expeditionary Force from the day on which it left tho Dominion until tho longed-for day of its' return. All the enterprises in which New Zealand forces havo engaged, from the occupation of Samoa onwards, will take their I place in general history, but wc: need in addition our own history of tho campaigns in which our soldiers have engaged. Every detail of the part played by our men in the epic though ill-starred adventure of Gallipoh has its place in a heritage that will be deemed precious by. future generations of New Zealanders, and even in regard to the gigantic campaign in Western Europe these generations will turn from general histories to-dwell, upon the story of what their kinsmen endured and accomplished in the mightiest battles known to the history of mankind. -

It is too much to hope that any history that can be compiled will do full justice to the battles and campaigns in -which our soldiers havo won renown for themselves and their country, but the Minister of Defence, to whom Cabinet has delegated authority in the matter, has taken a wise step in calling upon the friends and relatives of soldiers to make available as historical material the letters and diaries sent home by men at the front. These documents, as he justly observes, will be especially valuable to' the historian as intimate records of the war. Allwho have received letters from soldiers or have read the letters from the front which frequently find their way into print are aware that they constitute a mass of material which is not merely valuable but indispensable to the historian who is concerned to produce something better than a dry record of military operations. Whether the new age that is dawning is destined to witness, a great revival of the literary art may be an open question, but _ it is certain that the mental stimulus of war is reflected to an astonishing degree in the often careless and unstudied letters anil writings of soldiers of all countries and races. Practised writers havo on many occasions been put to shame by soldiers writing with no thought of literary effect and with tho solo idea of giving their relatives and intimates an unadorned account of their experiences. The quality that lias been born in war very often appeal's in the letters of New Zealand soldiers, and" as a whole they constitute a body of material upon , : which any . historian might be proud to work. The letters of soldiers ave,'-of course, not all _in the class of unstudied compositions which command attention on account of their powerful and graphic presentation of notable facts and events. Not a few. soldiers have set themsolves industriously to collect just such facts and data as will be essential to the historian, and. more especially in the preparation of such a history as the Government proposes to publish. It is so much the more necessary that this material should be brought together and put into orderly shape without further delay so that; as much as possible of it may be preserved. The Government is now taking methodical steps to this end, and tho co-operation it invites should be very freely accorded alike by individuals and by the soldiers' clubs and other organisations

to whom it addresses a specin] appeal. An all-sufficient incentive cappears in _ the fact that such a history as is contemplated is capable of becoming the best possible memorial—though it need not be the only memorial—to the. tens of thousands of New Zealand soldiers who have fought;- and not a few of them died, in order that their country might play a worthy part in shaping ;l great and noblo future for the world.