POPULAR HISTORY OF THE WAR

Taihape Daily Times, 10 June 1918, Page 4

POPULAR HISTORY OF THE WAR

Sir, —We are living in the midst of th'e most momentous conflict in the history of mankind. The issue will determine whether the men and women of the future shall live under the shadow of a military despotism;, or whether the principles of Chirstianity shall prevail, and n&tions, li'ke individuals, have their duties as well as their rights. If the world after the Avar is not more free, and if smaller nations are not protected from aggression, the lives of millions of soldiers of the Allied Armies will have been laid down in vain. In this great struggle New Zealanders have taken an honourable and glorious part. "We who are living know the spirit which has animated our soldiers and the sacrifices which they have made,'but those'who come after us can only learn these- things from the pages of history.-The-time to record the spirit of the war is while the moving scenes of this great drama are before our eyes. In addition to the Official' Imperial History of the V* T ar, which will „be prepared under the 'authority of the Committee of Imperial Defence, the Government of New Zealand have decided to publish a special' History of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, in which the deeds of our soldiers in the "far flung battle line'' will bo written, it is hoped, in a manner worthy of the theme, not from the point of view of the military crtie, but with a sympathetic knowledge of the brave spirit in which they met the . har Jshijvp a?i d 'sufferings -which they wei*e called upon to face. Before such a history can be written materials must first be collected. Soldiers in their letters and diaries give plain but vivid pictures of their lives in camp, on leave and at the front. These are especially valuable to a historian as intimate records of the war. An advertisement appears irj this issue asking that those who possess*! 'letter? .of spe-cial ■interest should forward them to the Director of Base Records who will make suitable extracts and return them without delay. I should also be glad if Patriotic Societies and Soldiers' Clubs would interest themselves in this project and endeavour to obtain suitable material for 2 trrc soldiers' History of the War. I am, etc., J, ALLEN, Minister of Defence. Office of the Minister of Defence, * "Wellington, June, 191 S.