War history a year round attraction

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 241, 3 May 1988, Page 44 (Supplement)

War history a year round attraction

The Queen Elizabeth II War Memorial Museum in Waiouru is oue of the major all year-round attractions of the Waimarino. With 80,000 visitors per year the museum attracts interest from all over New Zealand as well as from overseas and is popular with all sorts of people, young and old, family groups, guided tours and anyone seeking a better understanding of New Zealand's history and

development as a free and independent nation. The displays in the Museum cover a period of more than 100 years of New Zealand's military history from the Land Wars in the 1860's to the Vietnam War in the 1970's. During this period New Zealand sent troops to the Boer War (1900), the Great War (1914-18), World War II (1939-45), and to the United Nations policing operation in Korea in the 1950's.

New Zealand soldiers, sailors and later airmen (as well as the women's services) have seen action in South Africa, France, Belgium, Sinai, Palestine, Egypt, Gallipoli, Greece, Italy, Crete, North Africa, Samoa, the South Pacific, Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam. All these campaigns and policing operations are comprehensively recorded in a series of excellently presented displays. The exhibits include the

artefacts and accoutrements of the New Zealand forces as well as the colourful uniforms and insignia of former days. These are presented and described in a variety of ways including show-case displays of weapons and memorabillia, film-size three-dimensional dioramas (action tableaux depicting real-life battle conditions), audio visual slides and cine-film.

With its well-stocked shop and tearooms/cafeteria the museum is an ideal stop-over for travellers through the North Island but it is equally attractive to longer-stay visitors particularly when the weather is wet and cold and outdoor activities are limited. For the benefit of visitors to the Waimarino as well as all readers of Ruapehu 88 we intend publishing a six-part series of

articles detailing some of the major features of the museum and its displays in the six special winter holiday editions of the Waimarino Bulletin on August 3, 13, 20, 2 and on September 3 and 10. The museum is open every day of the year from 9.00am to 4.30pm (except Christmas) and admission charges are: Adults ($5.50), Children ($2.80), Pensioners ($4.50), Family Groups ($14.00).