Crete art photos loaned to QEII

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 440, 16 June 1992, Page 4

Crete art photos loaned to QEII

The Queen Elizabeth II Army Memorial Museum has recently opened two small art and photographic exhibitions. Entitled The Battle For Crete: Photographs from the Collection of Sir John White' and 'Crete: A Tribute from New Zealand', the exhibitions are on loan from the National Archives, as part of a nationwide tour. Given that the campaigns in Greece and Crete were possibly the least photographed of New Zealand's campaigns in either world war, Sir John White's photographs are of particular interest. Sir John was a personal staff officer to General Freyberg for a large part of the war. The camera used to take the photographs was purchased by General Freyberg and given to Sir John to use to collate a visual record of events as seen by Divisional Headquarters. After the war, General Freyberg gifted the cam-

era to Sir John, who still uses it today. 'Tribute' looks at the campaign through the eyes of the official and unofficial New Zealand war artists present during the campaign. Its life reflects the close relation-

ship between the peoples of New Zealand and Crete. 'Tribute' was sent to Crete in May 1991, as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the campaign. It was curated by Dr Christopher Pugsley.