Guided tour through first war history War horrors recalled

Waimarino Bulletin, Issue 6, 26 August 1988, Page 12

Guided tour through first war history

War horrors recalled

In this the fourth part of our chronologically guided tour through the Queen Elizabeth II War Memorial Museum at Waiouru, we move from the Colonial Gallery over the Bailey Bridge into the section featuring exhibits from World War I. To the left is a small restful gallery where a few paintings by official war artists are on display. The main one is a large oil colour entitled: "Bringing up the Guns at Ypres, 1917." This painting is by a New Zealander,

Septimus H. Power, who was an official war artist serving with the Australian Expeditionary Force. Another painting depicts winter on the Western Front. The main exhibits of the First World War period however are straight ahead of the Bailey Bridge and feature New Zealand's involvement in Samoa, Egypt, Gallipoli, the Sinai and Palestine as well as the Western Front in Europe. The exhibits in this section of the Museum are much more detailed

and comprehensive than those in the Colonial Gallery (which we featured in this series over the last two weeks) and adequate time should be allowed to examine the great array of photographs, scale models replicas, uniforms, weapons, dioramas, descriptive panels and military memorabillia on display. We learn for instance that New Zealand was better prepared for war in 1914 than at any other time in its military history thanks to a

systcm of compulsory military training which was initiated in 1910. First capture The first and immediate result of this preparedness meant that New Zealand could muster and dispatch a force of 1413 men and six nursing sisters at Wellington on August 11, 1914 (only six days after the declaration of war) to sail on August 15 and land unopposed in Samoa on August 29 to capture the German wireless station in Apia. This was the first territory of the former German Empire to be occupied in World War 1 and the showcase depicting that event contains German, Samoan and New Zealand exhibits of the period including a captured telephone exchange and flag, a proclamation announcing the takeover in German, Samoan, English and, on the lighter side, a silver-tea service which accompanied officers of the invasion force. The second result of New Zealand's preparedness to wage war in 1914 was demonstrated by its ability to muster the main body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, comprising 8574 soldiers and 3818 horses, in Wellington only two

months after the outbreak of hostilities in Europe on August 4, 1914. (New Zealand declared war on German the same day the date being August 5.) This force, escorted by a Japanese cruiser

and ships of the Royal Navy sailed from Wellington on October 14, 1914 to join up with the Australian Expeditionary Force off Albandy in Western Australia and then in convoy bound for the

Middle East and Europe. ANZAC formed In November however, Turkey joined Germany, so instead of sailing on to join the British and French armies on the Western Front, the convoy disembarked in

Egypt and it was there the combined Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was formed. A small beaded showcase contains a few memoirs of the Egyptian experience includ-

ing a fez, a horse-tail fly swat and some picture postcards. The spirit of ANZAC is captured on a large poster featuring a triumphant Australian and New Zealand soldier each holding a rifle and their respective national flags on the Gallipoli Peninsula with a warship in the Dardenelles below. Unfortunately this objective was never realised. The next major exhibit is a large 3dimensional scale model showing in graphic detail, the terrain above ANZAC Cove where so many died and the ANZAC legend was created after their fateful landing on April 15, 1915. Of the 8000 New Zealanders who took part in the initial landings at ANZAC Cove only 5000 survived unscathed. In the first 24 hours New Zealand lost 700 men. It is estimated that 470,000 Turkish troops were killed in the Gallipoli campaign while total Allied casualties numbered between 190,000 and 215,000. By studying this detailed model the visitor can appreciate some of the difficulties encountered by the ANZAC troops when confronted by a determined enemy occupying the high

From page 12 ground inland above the beach head. Periscope Another interesting exhibit in this part of the gallery is a short Lee Enfield rifle fitted with a home-made periscopic sight using two small mirrors attached to a wooden frame. Despite appearances, a glance through the lower mirror will demonstrate just how accurately this weapon could be aimed from the safety of a trench or dugout without exposing the marksman to enemy sniper fire. A showcase contains weapons, used by the opposing Turkish and ANZAC forces. Also on display in the ANZAC section is a full size 4.5 inch quick-fir-ing howitzer employed by New Zealand troops at Gallipoli. This was the only piece of artillery available that had a high enough trajectory for its shells to clear the steep ridges and mountainous terrain of the Gallipoli Peninsula and reach t h e Turkish defences. Throughout this section the ill fated Gallipoli Campaign is well described and illustrated with photographs, captions and an audio-vi-sual presentation. The next exhibit, before moving on to the Western Front, is a showcase featuring New Zealand's involvement in the Sinai and Palestine campaigns between 1916 and 1918. the New Zealand Expeditionary Force split into two after Gallipoli with the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade going to Sinai and Palestine while the New Zealand Division sailed for France. Europe's horrors The next section brings the visitor face to face with the horrors of warfare on the Western Front in Europe. The exhibits include a full range of weapons employed by the opposing German and Allied troops. Among the more conventional weapons on display - rifles, pistols, revolvers, grenades, mortars, artillery etc - is a new and deadly aerial missile used by the pilots of the emerging airforces of both sides. These were very sharply-pointed, solid steel darts which were dropped by the bucket load over enemy lines. From the height these silent darts of death were dropped they would penetrate the soft mud of the Western Front to a depth of several metres and pierce any protective steel helmet with ease. Another new and unconventional weapon used for the first time in World War 1 was gas. A showcase contains weapons and protective gear used in gas warfare including gas

masks for men and animals alive. A full-size diorama supported by sound effects graphically portrays some of the horrors of trench warfare on the Western Front. Also on display is a page from a wartime copy of the Auckland Weekly News featuring photographs and names of men killed in action, wounded or missing. But for those who survived, there were periods of quiet, convalescence and recreation and some of the activities enjoyed by troops on these occasions are displayed in a separate showcase at the end of the World War 1 gallery. They include carved and

decorated empty cartridge cases, small dec-

orative pieces of model furniture, home-made games etc. The final exhibit in this section of the Museum is one showing the pernament legacy of war - the dead, the wounded, the amputees and the graves and memorials marking New Zealand's contribution in men and resources. Between 1914 and 1918 when New Zealand's total population was only 1,099,449, the number of service personnel who served overseas numbered 100,444. There were 58,000 casualties out of an eligible male population of 240,000. Of these 16,645 were killed and 41,317 wounded.