resource book for teachers

Resource Bookfor Teachers

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Resource Book for Teachers

Examples of Cross Curriculum Links - 4

Introductory Texts Page 5 - 9

Using Quotations Page 10

Additional Quotations Page 11 - 13

Using Cartoons and Posters Page 14

Bibliography Page 15 - 17

Additional Resources Page 19 - 25

Evaluation Page 18

Section 1: The Road to War

ACTIVITIES

Page 26 - 29

Section 2: Keeping the Sea Lanes Open. ... Page 30 - 33

Section 3: A Long Hard Road Page 34 - 37

Section 4: War in the Pacific Page 38 - 41

Section 5: The Home Front Page 42 - 45

Section 6: Under the Blue Beret Page 46 - 49

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Science in the New Zealand CurriculumAchievement Objectives

Making Sense of the Material World, Level 4

Students can 1111 investigate and group common materials in terms of properties, e.g. food and food technology during the war years, soldiers' clothing, fuel; 2222 investigate and explain how uses of everyday materials are related to their physical and simple chemical properties, e.g. fabrics and metals used for protection;3333 investigate and describe ways of producing permanent or temporary changes in some familiar materials, e.g. heating food, candle lighting, mixing two or more substances; 4444 investigate the positive and negative effects of substances on people and on the environment, e.g. solvents and fuels, first aid, chemical weapons (Agent Orange), waste product removal.

Technology in the New Zealand CurriculumAchievement Objectives

Strand C: Technology and Society, Level 5

Students can: 7777 identify and consider different views and feelings of people in relation to some specific technological developments or effects, such as cooking in a war zone with limited equipment, or making recipes from a list of rations. 8888 describe and identify the positive and negative effects of some instances of technologies on people's lives and the environment, such as the development of different fabrics for different purposes (tents, parachutes, uniforms).

English in the New Zealand CurriculumAchievement Objectives

Oral Language, Listening Functions: Levels 3 - 8

Students should: (Key words) listen, interact, recall, respond, understand, clarify, interpret, discuss, compare, analyse and evaluate in response to war time quotations.

Oral Language, Speaking Functions: Levels 3 - 8

Students should: (Key words) speak confidently to recount events; communicate information, ideas and opinions; debate ideas and opinions; narrate, recite, read aloud, present, perform using a variety of texts e.g. war time stories and poetry.

Written Language, Reading Functions: Levels 3 - 8

Students should: (Key words) select and read fluently and independently from a range of historical texts; discuss and analyse language, meanings and ideas from a range of contemporary and historical texts relating to war and the United Nations.

Written Language, Writing Functions: Levels 3 - 8

Students should: (Key words) write to express personal responses; write to reflect on, interpret, explore a wide range of experiences, e.g. the lives of New Zealanders during WW2.

Visual Language, Viewing: Levels 3 - 8

Reading visual and dramatic texts, including static and moving images students should: (Key words) respond to, discuss, identify, interpret, analyse, compare and evaluate, e.g. poster propaganda.

Visual Language, Presenting: Levels 3 - 8

Using static and moving images students should:(Key words) combine verbal and visual and dramatic features to communicate information, ideas and narrative, e.g. war time radio message.

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Resource Book for TeachersCrossCurriculumlinks

Mathematics in the New Zealand CurriculumAchievement objectives

Problem Solving: Levels 3 - 8

Within a range of meaningful contexts, students should be able to:

pose questions for mathematical exploration;effectively plan mathematical exploration;devise and use problem solving strategies to explore situations mathematically.

Contexts:Resourcefulness in Adversity Food, e.g. ration books, coupons, changing recipes, budgetingMaterial, e.g. arranging patterns to make best advantage of grain, nap etc. Petrol, e.g. shortest distance between two places

Statistics: Level 5

Collecting a variety of data including statistically based information and making graph presentations e.g. population, numbers of men and women who served overseas, casualties…

Geometry: Levels 3 - 4

Drawing and interpreting simple scale maps.Locating and using grid references.

The Education staff at Auckland Museum would like to acknowledge the advice and planning contributed by members of the Museum Advisory Board, a group of teachers and advisers selected for their expertise in curricula development.

There may be other curriculum links you wish to pursue in order to gain maximum learning advantages for students visiting Scars on the Heart. The examples given are sample indicators.

In developing units of work for teachers and students to use, it is critical that the writers at the Auckland Museum Education Department have feedback. An evaluation form has been provided for this purpose. Please fill it in and post to:

Education DepartmentAuckland MuseumPrivate Bag 92018AUCKLAND

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Resource Book for TeachersIntroductoryTexts

Introductory TextsNew Zealanders went joyously to war in 1899 and again in 1914. The enormous casualties to New Zealand of 1914 - 1918 stripped us of our innocence, and we carry the scars of that experience still. We went more grimly in 1939. In a sense we remained involved in an acceptable level of warfare as far as the New Zealand public was concerned throughout the 1950s and the 1960s in Korea, Malaya and Borneo. Each was a war in which we fought alongside British Commonwealth Forces, even in Korea which was predominantly an American war. It was our government's decision to fight alongside the Americans in South Vietnam that made the New Zealand public openly question for the first time why we were fighting this war. It is a question that we have been prepared to ask ever since; on the nuclear issue, ANZUS and on our involvement in peacekeeping operations.Before we sent our infantry company to Bosnia in 1994 we measured the likely cost and accepted that casualties among our young men and women was part of the cost we were prepared to pay to be a member of the UN and take our place in world affairs. This too is a sign of our growing maturity.

The Road to WarHitler's ambitions brought war to Europe in 1939, but the road to World War 2 was hastened by the aggressive ambition of Mussolini in Italy, Stalin in the Soviet Union, and the military dominated government of Imperial Japan in Asia.Each was prepared to fight to achieve its national aims. By contrast the human and economic costs of World War 1 had exhausted the democracies of Europe and America.

The United States retreated into a policy of isolationism from world affairs and did not join the League of Nations. The European powers tried to keep Germany weak by economic and military sanctions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles and by a series of European defensive treaties under the League of Nations. These failed because when each crisis came France and Britain recoiled from the thought of another war. It was easier to appease than fight. This only encouraged the rise of Adolf Hitler who was determined to make Germany, or the Third Reich as he termed it, supreme in Europe.If this meant war then so be it.

Keeping the Sea Lanes OpenThe New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy started the war with two six-inch gun cruisers, HMS Achilles and Leander, the minesweeping trawler Wakakura and our first ship Philomel which was a hulk tied against the Navy Wharf at Devonport in Auckland. A number of small ships were hastily commandeered and used for port inspections or fitted as minesweepers.Four inch guns were fitted to protect our merchant ships, and the Union Steam Ship Liner Monowai was requisitioned and fitted out as an armed merchant cruiser.The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy was renamed the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1941. They saw service in every type of ship from battleships and aircraft carriers to submarines and torpedo boats, and took part in notable actions and operations in every theatre of war. The cruiser Achilles became famous as one of three cruisers which defeated the German pocket battleship, the Admiral Graf Spee ,in the Battle of the River Plate off the coast of South America.

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Flying With the Royal Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force was established in 1937. On the outbreak of war we saw our role as the provision of trained aircrew to serve with the Royal Air Force. We were part of a Commonwealth contribution that allowed Britain to expand its first-line combat squadron strength from 332 squadrons in September 1942 to 635 squadrons by the end of 1944. Indeed until the invasion of Italy it was the only tangible British offensive in Europe. We were almost too efficient and by 1944 the supply of pilots and aircrew outstripped Britain's ability to provide aircraft. Hundreds of New Zealanders were diverted to theFleet Air Arm or returned to man our Squadrons in the Pacific. Of the 11,000 New Zealanders who served with the Air Force, 3,285 were killed. The very high loss rate is attributed to the fact that New Zealand sent more air crew than ground staff.

Greece and Crete 1941In March 1941 the New Zealanders found themselves in Greece as part of “W” Force to assist the Greek armies fight against the anticipated German invasion. This was the first time that the New Zealand Division had been committed to operations. All of Europe except Greece had fallen. In hindsight this was a hopeless military undertaking that should never have been contemplated. Both the Australian and New Zealand government were reluctant to see our forces committed to an enterprise with the potential to be another ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign. The Greeks had driven back Mussolini's Italian forces in Albania, but their ill-equipped army was no match for the German Army, and “W” Force was itself too weak and lacking air support to make any difference. We were forced to withdraw and evacuate our forces with heavy casualties. Of the 16,720 New Zealanders who served in Greece, 291 were killed, 599 wounded, and 1614 taken prisoner.

The New Zealand Division landed on Crete with what they stood up in. We were 7700 of the 35,000 strong British,

Australian, New Zealand and Greek force commanded by Major-General Freyberg.Our task was to defend Maleme airfield at all costs — we failed. Despite defeating every German attack, a New Zealand Battalion commander lost his nerve and abandoned the airfield, allowing German gliders to land. The battle for Crete was lost. Crete cost a total of 3818 New Zealand casualties, including 671 dead.

War in the Desert 1941–1943After the evacuation of Crete, Freyberg had to rebuild his Division. He also had to re-establish the New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser's trust in his ability to look after New Zealand's small national army. This had been badly shaken in Greece and Crete.

During the North African Campaign General Rommel, “The Desert Fox”, was the master of aggressive tactics using his panzer tanks, motorised infantry, and anti-tank guns in combination. Rommel out-thought every British commander except Montgomery. He was the master opportunist on the battlefield — if he saw a chance he would take it, and exploit it to the full. The Germans were the professionals, the British the amateurs.German tactics were built on the initiative of the junior commanders and on the close cooperation between infantry, armour and anti-tank guns.

Evacuated from Crete to Egypt, the New Zealanders were involved in the North African campaign from late 1941 to 1943.After a period of reorganisation and training, the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force crossed into Libya and took part in the Allied offensive to relieve the besieged port of Tobruk.Throughout 1942 the division was involved in holding the German and Italian invasion of Egypt. It played a key role in the decisive Allied victory at El Alamein and New Zealand was seen to have made an important contribution to Egypt's defence.The New Zealand forces took part in the pursuit of the retreating forces. In May 1943 Freyberg took the surrender of the Italian First Army and the fighting in North Africa ended.

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Slogging up Italy 1943–1945As the veteran division in the British Eighth Army we New Zealanders slogged it up the Italian Peninsula from landing at the port of Taranto in October 1943 until Freyberg’s circus reached Trieste in May 1945. It was a very different war from the African deserts, and we were now a very different division. Vehicles, tanks and Bren carriers in the Division totalled over 4500. It was now ideally equipped and balanced for desert warfare, but Italy did not offer the same opportunities for armoured movement. Indeed the one thing that we needed most of all in Italy — infantrymen — were now reduced to two brigades, and in short supply.

The confidence of the New Zealanders in the hoped for rapid advance up the eastern Adriatic coast was heightened by their success in crossing the Sangro and capturing Castelfrentano in late November 1943. Winter was approaching and the Division tried to gate crash into Orsogna and failed. It was followed by three further New Zealand attempts, each failing with heavy casualties. It had been a long time since we had failed and it was hard to take. It was also obvious that we had still much to learn in coordinating and communicating between our infantry and armour in this type of country. It was a foretaste of things to come.

The four battles for Monte Cassino took place between January and May 1944.The heights of Monte Cassino blocked the road north to Rome through the Liri Valley to the American General Mark Clark's Fifth United States Army. Rome was the goal, but giving urgency to the battle was the Allied forces, bottled up and threatened in the Anzio beach head on the coast north of the Cassino bottleneck. In the first battle American GIs were cut to pieces in repeated attempts to cross the Rapido River or “Bloody River” as they called it.The next attempt was made by Freyberg’s newly formed New Zealand Corps consisting of the 4th Indian Division and the New Zealanders. This had been formed for the specific task of taking Cassino. This second battle was fought on 15–18 February 1944 and was preceded by the bombing of the 6th Century Benedictine Abbey that crowned

Monastery Hill. Although it was not occupied by the Germans it was believed to be so. Certainly every Allied soldier below the heights was convinced it was defended. Freyberg asked that it be bombed, which happened on the 15th February, killing many civilians who were sheltering in it. However, Freyberg’s coordination between the bombing and his Corps’ attack were faulty and the German I Parachute Division had time to occupy the ruins. Two companies of the 28th (Maori) Battalion were committed to capture the Cassino railway station, while engineers bridged gaps along the railway line to allow the tank support to come forward. The Indians attacked Monastery Hill. Both failed with heavy casualties, including 128 in the 28th (Maori) Battalion.Freyberg, again showed his limitations as a corps commander; his strengths were at divisional level where he was dealing with brigadiers that he knew, and he could stay in touch with the men he commanded.

It was a different New Zealand Division after Cassino. The “old hands” were becoming weary (and wary) and the reinforcements were not up to scratch.The two Cassino battles were our Somme and Passchendaele of the Second World War. While the casualties did not match the terrible slaughter of the First World War, it was enough to break the reinforcement-starved veterans. Our veterans were rested with a return trip to New Zealand for three months. Many did not want to return to combat, and believed that fit men in industry should take their place in combat.

Some were involved with the so-called mutinies in New Zealand and refused to come back. Others returned to the Division. All experienced the debilitating aftershock of combat when they got back to New Zealand. It was hard to face it again. Many could not. The heavy-handed reaction of our government and military authorities attacked the symptom not the cause. Had they examined the experience of our furlough drafts in the First World War, they would have found the same thing occurred. Few who returned to New Zealand were fit enough mentally or physically to return to the front. Those who did found it difficult.


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War in the PacificIn April 1939 the Pacific Defence Conference attended by representatives from the United States, Great Britain and Australia were held in Wellington to examine the Japanese threat to the Pacific. Its recommendations included the need for New Zealand to ensure the protection of those islands that could serve as potential bases for the Japanese in the South Pacific. On the outbreak of war, HMS Leander sailed with a small Regular garrison for Fanning Island to protect the cable station.

In November 1940, the 8th New Zealand Infantry Brigade consisting of 29 and 30 Battalions were sent as garrison to Fiji.Eventually a third battalion for the Brigade was raised from reinforcements and by combining smaller units. Our “Coconut Bombers” in Fiji, as they called themselves, were bottom in priority for equipment, transport and weapons, and became a training pool for reinforcements for 2NZEF in the Middle East. They were commanded by Freyberg's rejects; those officers and non-commissioned officers he had thought too old for wartime command. They were the ones who now showed their merit in the Tropics with untried men, and little obvious threat. It seemed that everything was happening everywhere else but in the South Pacific, although visiting Japanese provided the occasional scare.

The war in the Pacific began with the Japanese surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet at the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbour in Honolulu on 7 December 1941. This attack brought the previously neutral United States into the War against Japan. New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth declared war against Japan. It became a world war when in turn Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on 11 December 1942.

In August 1942 a counter offensive against the Japanese forces in the Pacific was launched in Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. New Zealand troops were actively involved. An infantry division (3 Division) was raised for service in the South Pacific and sent to New Caledonia in November 1942. The RNZAF and the RNZN also made a substantial contribution to the three year campaign.

The “Home” FrontThose at home continued to go about their daily lives — the normal work; shopping, planning meals, raising families, and the abnormal; coping with shortages and man-powering, air raid precautions and blackouts. Always present were thoughts of those who were absent — husbands, fathers, brothers, children, relatives and friends, and the fear of seeing their names in the growing casualty lists.

Keeping up with the news was a constant pre-occupation for those at home — the radio, the daily and weekly newspapers and newsreels at the cinema all provided a means of keeping track of loved ones.The Weekly News published lists of casualties and those believed missing in action. The BBC brought news from the front into most homes; letters arrived, sometimes censored, and in Queen Street, Auckland, one business kept passers-by up-to-date with the latest radio news by chalking headlines on the pavement blackboard.

In 1942 ration books were issued for essentials such as tea, sugar, butter and clothing. Meat rationing was introduced later. Special rations were allowed for making food parcels for sending overseas.And in summer, extra sugar was allowed for jam-making and preserving fruit. War-time cookery books helped housewives to plan meals and included recipes that didn't require sugar, eggs or cream. Some experimented with new recipes for cooking offal, which was not subject to rationing.

Women sewed garments with buttons to replace elastic, and the rationing of clothes and wool meant that more time was spent altering hand-down and recycled clothing. But this was not new, New Zealand, like most of the world, had just come out of a depression and at this time making do was still a familiar part of life.

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Under the Blue BeretDuring the Second World War, the Allied nations decided they had to work together to ensure that there would never be another world war. This had been the aim of the League of Nations in the 1920s and 1930s but without the support of the United States this organisation did not have the authority nor the will to achieve that aim. At San Francisco on 26th June 1945 even before the Second World War had ended the 51 countries on the Allied side signed the Charter of the United Nations. The United Nations became a legal international body on 24 October 1945.

As we had been with the League of Nations, New Zealand became a keen supporter of the United Nations. In 1945 our Prime Minister Peter Fraser was whole-heartedly behind the UN, and it was his hope that it would support small countries in the international arena when larger countries were using their power to get their own way.

Among the many additional roles and responsibilities that the UN has taken on, its key aim is still to work for a peaceful solution to disputes between countries and within countries. If a situation or crisis arises this may be investigated by the Security Council which is always in session, and it can recommend imposing sanctions or the implementation of peacekeeping action.


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Using Quotations Quotations provide considerable power in communicating the feelings of people who have experienced major joys or disasters. It is this connection with people that carries opportunities for students to gain a deeper understanding of the events of the past. For teachers, quotations are an invaluable resource.

Setting the SceneSelect a quotation from the list provided.Enlarge the print on a photocopier or use a word processor. Include the name of the person responsible. Respond to the quotation by answering as many of the following questions as possible:

Where might this person be? When might the incident have occurred?What might have happened prior to the incident?What might happen next? What were the feelings of the people concerned? Which parts of the text indicate these feelings?

Ask students to record their thoughts by picture, cartoon, narrative or drama.

IllustrationsSelect a quotation which describes a visual picture. Illustrate the quotation as you imagine it. Display your picture together with the quotation.

Grouping, Labelling and InferringCollect a number of quotations from people who remember WWII. These could include examples given in this

ts’nedutsnidnuofselpmaxe,ecruoserown reading, and thoughts or impressions recorded during interviews with WWII veterans.

Ask:

Ask:

Do any of these quotations seem to belong together? (Students sort and group quotations.) Why have you put these quotations together? (Students to write a label for each group.) Could some of these quotations belong to more than one group? (Rearrange groups accordingly.) Which quotation impresses you the most? Why?

Ask students to write a generalisation about a group of quotations, describing human endeavour and the impact of war on people’s lives.

ResearchSelect several quotations from the lists given, which you think have a powerful impact.

Why are quotations so powerful?

List students’ responses. Research further quotations from people who have participated in war. Check out family memorabilia, computer programmes, newspapers, books and videos. Make a wall display of quotations which you think have a powerful message. Write your own quotation about conflict.

Differences of OpinionFind a series of quotations which refer to a particular incident e.g. the bombing of Hiroshima. Sort them into groups according to the opinions of the writers.Read to find out more information about the incident. Write your own opinion of the event and give reasons why you feel this way. Set up a display which highlights the differing opinions of various people. Invite others to add their opinions. You may wish to set up a class debate on the topic.

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“My father had been wounded in Gallipoli and invalided home, but volunteered to return to France where he won the MM and Bar. He was a quiet and gentle man and there was very little war talk in our family. At the same time when World War II broke out he indicated to me that when I turned 21, the official age for overseas service, he expected me to do my duty. As I moved through school all the talk was of Hurricanes and Spitfires, and at 17½ the age for RNZAF acceptance I requested my parents to sign my enlistment papers. They refused but did sign when I turned 18. I was also influenced by a cousin a year ahead of me at school, who with three inseparable mates, had joined up and in 1942 three were serving in the Desert Air Force, all being killed within a short space of time.The fourth crashed and was killed in 1944.One of my class mates was also keen and was subsequently killed flying Seafires.”

— Lloyd Noble, RNZAF, 102 Squadron RAF

“The supply fans roared to the demand for higher pressure as the engine throttles were eased open for full speed. Stop!Full astern! Full ahead! Stokers whipped off oil sprayers, on sprayers; the ship heeled. Our boilers pulsated and roared.Furnace flames spat out with every salvo.Dull thuds around us. Bombs? No.Enemy shells exploding in the sea more likely. Loud speakers told us that our force had run into a Japanese cruiser and destroyer squadron. The ship quivered as the salvoes thundered. A crash — sudden darkness — the ship lurching and heeling over — an almost incredible silence. The water tenders flashed their emergency lights, the chief of the watch wrenched his fan throttle closed, the leading stoker slammed to a stop his oil-fuel pump as the needle of the steam pressure gauge started to creep up. No safety valve lifted. An electrical repair party eventually gave some power and lights. Bilge water crept across the floor plates. Minutes seemed like hours. Steam and water cut through gland packings showering us with

scalding spray. Water levels raced from high to low in the gauge glasses, the boilers primed, turbo fans “hunted”, the steam pressure danced from high to low.We swung on valves, nursed our pumps, and watched salty feed water upset all the laws of steady steaming. With communication lines dead and in semi-darkness we did our best to give steam.Slow ahead! Two sprayers on each boiler, one on each, two, three on each, and so on, hour after hour, steam roaring through leaking glands and blow-down valves open. All day we flogged those boilers. Nightfall saw us safe in harbour, battered, torn, but not beaten.”

— Stoker, RNZN, No 3 Boiler Room, HMNZS Leander

“My mother tells me that as a small child in Southland there were often power cuts during which we would sit around the fire in the dark, candles flickering, whilst my father would tell us about his time in the war. How powerful that must have been, that sense of return, a man’s closeness to his family, mindful of his stretcher-bearing time in Cassino, where rats fed on bodies floating in the stench and rubble of the bombed out town, with Germans holed up in the house next door… When my father walked across the lawn at Cassino cemetery to look at the New Zealand graves which lie below the monastery hill he was overwhelmed by memory, grief and unease at having lived another forty years.”

— Susan Wilson, Cassino Revisited(Looking back from today, a daughter wonders.)

“I met the battalion trudging slowly out to its billets after daylight, and thought I had not seen men so exhausted since Flanders. Every man was plastered with wet mud up to his neck and their faces were grey.”

— Howard Kippenberger, Infantry Brigadier,(Stalemate at Orsogna, Italy)

Resource Book for TeachersAdditionalQuotations

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“The facilities were all under canvas. The winter was bitterly cold. It rained most of the time and we were literally bogged down. We never got out of our gumboots for four months and as the army moved north so did we.”

— Muriel Jackson, ARRC, (Charge Sister at the 1st New Zealand Casualty Clearing Station in Italy)

“The two drivers made each three-ton truck their home. Bits and pieces were hung and fixed here and there with the skill of a high country sheep farmer adding “just a bit more” to an already over-burdened packhorse. Between the two drivers in the cab rose something like a little cupboard in the bathroom. It had a shelf, and there they kept brush, comb, mirror, toilet gear and any opened foodstuffs — a half finished tin of jam or margarine, the current packet of NAAFI biscuits and so on. Bolted under the tailboard was a large metal box… completely filled with reserved tinned food. Then slung along the sides under the edge of the tray were other lockers with more food. In the gap between the cab and the tray, by the spare wheel, rested a five gallon water container, complete with tap. Every driver had a comfortable mattress… or a folding camp bed. About the most useful part of the lorry was the exhaust manifold. A tin of M and V (meat and vegetables) was placed on this and presto! — after a cuple of miles breakfast was hot and ready.Men also whipped up hot meals and brewed tea in no time on primuses or petrol fires. Every lorry carried an emergency supply of petrol. Drivers washed their shirts in petrol; water was scarce.”

— Jim Henderson, RMT (New Zealand transport and signallers continued to play an essential role in the mobile warfare stretching kilometre upon kilometre over the desert sands.)

“There was a little stir among the Germans and another officer appeared. It was Rommel. He sent for me. I bowed to him. He stood looking at me coldly.Through an interpreter he expressed his displeasure that I had not saluted him. I replied that I intended no discourtesy, but I was in the habit of saluting only my seniors in my own or allied armies. I was in the wrong of course, but had to stick to

my point. It did not prevent him from congratulating me on the fighting qualities of my men.‘They fight well.’ he said. ‘Yes, they fight well,’ I replied, ‘but your

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‘You know that is not correct.’”

— James Hargest, Farewell Campo 12 (Warin the desert)

“THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM THE MEN OF THE ECHELONS We have refused to go back to camp. But do you know why? We are not cowards or shirkers. Our forgotten records will prove that. We are fighters. We have fought for your rights. Now we are fighting for ours.You supported us then. Support us now. We left here as youths. Now we are men, some of us are nearing middle age, yet we are denied the privileges of men. Four years of soldiering is enough. Now give us our civil rights. While we faced death and the hard rigours of warfare, our fellow New Zealanders have taken our places in industry. Let us have our turn to guard the home front.The single Grade 1 men should go now and do their share. We are capable of taking their places as they are fit to take ours. We are carpenters, engineers, draughtsmen and labourers. They can be fighters with a little training.Perhaps your son or daughter is among the ranks of essential workers.Then remember we too, are women's sons and brothers. We are together again after a long separation. Shall we be made to go back, to forfeit our ambitions, hopes and perhaps our lives for a regime that has shown no appreciation for our past services?Why — we are losing our rights as volunteers. We are not asking this for ourselves alone. We are demanding the freedom and the rights for which we fought for all our comrades and fellow veterans. We need public support and approval — YOUR support — YOUR approval.”

— Issued when 1st Echelon failed to return

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“There was a great relief at the news of the atom bomb, because we thought we were in for a year or two of fighting out here and the Japs weren’t renowned for throwing the towel in. I think the atom bomb saved more Japs than it killed.”

— Heath Simcox, RNZN

“Looking up the river, we could see what had been the city of Hiroshima For about three square kilometres nearly every building had been pulverised into piles of rubble. The river was full of floating bodies and temporary medical stations on the city’s outskirts were crowded with people waiting in queues, many of them burnt and bleeding with long strips of skin hanging from their swollen naked bodies. There was no hysteria or panic, only the quiet desperation of the first-aid teams working on the injured and the shocked, dazed stares of the onlookers. For the first time I feel pity and sorrow for the Japanese.”

— Edward Sawyer, British prisoner of war, Hiroshima

“Well VE and VJ Day didn’t mean a thing to me. It was just like any other ordinary day. Everyone was down the town, most of them dancing around but I had my two little boys and I had to be looking to them.Of course I was pleased that it was over and knew that Doug would be coming home soon. There was great excitement when Doug came home. I was supposed to be on the main station and there were allocated zones to wait. Anyway the morning came and we were to go down all prepared and all dressed up and everything. I used to knit a terrific lot and the children all had new things. My lift didn’t arrive and it ended up such a schemozzle to get down Stuart Street to the station. It was just packed. Doug’s father was so proud of the two boys and he wanted to hold Barry, the youngest, to show Doug when he came off the train. But I ended up on the south end of the station and they couldn’t find me. Doug got off the train and came tearing down the platform looking for me and eventually got to me. I became very ill at this time and it took me about a year to get over it. It would come to five o’clock and time to get the tea and I wasn’t well, and with two kids and everything it used to get a wee bit the better of Doug. He’d help me during the day a bit, but at five o’clock he was away down to have a beer with the boys.”

— Lillian Milburn (A wife waits.)

“I was down on an instructor’s course in southern Italy when I heard the news it was Victory in Europe Day and we had a pretty fierce celebration that night. After VE Day my company commander asked would I like train to be an officer in J Force. But I had no hesitation in getting the first available trip back to New Zealand. I’d had enough. Four years was enough…When I got back the elder boy took to me because he was four, but Barry wasn’t very fussed on me. He wasn’t used to having a father. It took time and I couldn’t rush things. I came back to my old job for six months and then I went into business on my own account. I thought I’d taken a few chances so another wouldn’t matter.”

— Doug Milburn, 26 Battalion (A husband returns.)

“The (Fijian) scouts of the Nadroga platoon in one apparently deserted bivouac area… saw a Jap propped up in a shelter feebly moving his hand. They cautiously went up to him and found him a living skeleton.Four days before his comrades had left him to die. His shoulder and thigh was a crawling mass of maggots. He had not eaten for days but had contrived to make a bamboo pipe to catch rainwater so had kept alive. Lying on one of our stretchers and surrounded by a crowd of our men, he was a pitiable object, his beady eyes going from face to face looking for the death he expected… Through the crowd a sturdily built Nadroga youngster elbowed his way and looked down on the Jap. Suddenly he whipped out a cigarette, lit it, stuck it between the Jap's lips and said softly in English, ‘You poor beggar.’”

— Lieutenant Colonel F W Voelcker, DSO, MC, 3rd Battalion, Fiji Infantry Regiment

A Medical Team in Vietnam“No time for lunch, but just plodded on through the afternoon with burns, wounds, a boy with a shattered hand and many wounds from a grenade. In the last three days I have amputated two arms and three legs.”

— Peter Eccles-Smith, Letters from a Vietnam Hospital

“You don’t talk about the war. I don’t think anybody does. I think it was such a sad time and it was six years out of people’s lives. Those that went away didn’t lead the lives of young people and they came back old men.”

— Patrica Connew, Clerk, Navy Office, Wellington

Resource Book for TeachersAdditionalQuotations

13131313

Using Cartoons and PostersCartoons and posters are important tools for getting a message across, by using pictures and an economy of words. A small selection of WWII posters and cartoons have been reproduced in this booklet but students should find many more examples in books, magazines and newspapers.

InterpretationSelect a cartoon or poster which appeals to you. Discuss it with a friend.

Ask:Who are the people? How do you know?What is the message? What symbols have been used? What allusions are made? What part of the war is being referred to?How effective is the cartoon or poster?Give reasons for your answer.

Select a wartime situation from your research, and decide on an important message you wish to convey. Devise your own cartoon or poster. Show it to other students and see if they understand your message. Remember, cartoons only work if other people can get the message.

Designing an Effective PosterEnlarge and display a selection of wartime posters. Discuss the attributes of each one.

Ask:What sort of language has been used? Who do you think the poster was designed for? How effective are the graphics? What is your opinion of the choice of images?

Select one that you like best and say why.Design your own wartime poster. Be selective with your choice of words, images, layout and colour. If you have access to a computer, use it.

Time Shifts Select a cartoon or poster from WWII.Rewrite the message. Transfer the new message to a different time e.g. the war in Bosnia. Redesign the cartoon or poster to meet the new situation. Set up a display comparing the old and the new graphics.

Compare some modern political cartoons with those from WWII. You will find a good selection in the newspapers.Discuss with a friend.

Ask:What are some of the main messages from each period of time? How have people’s attitudes changed? Of the messages used in WWII, which do you consider wouldn't work today?Why?

Make two displays comparing modern cartoons and old cartoons. Summarise each display with a statement about people's attitudes and values.

SymbolsIn posters, cartoons and badges, symbols are often used to represent justice, evil, power, ridicule, patriotism and the like.Typical symbols include swords, lions, eagles, clenched hands, chains…

Collect examples of posters, cartoons and badges which use symbols. Discuss the meaning of the symbol. Group examples which convey the same or similar messages. Make a wall display.

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CLAYTON, Major G.J.

CORNER, Margaret

CRAWFORD, John

FILER, David

FREYBERG, Paul

GARDINER, Wira

GLOVER, Rupert Glanville

GRANT, David

HAMILTON, Ian CARROLL, Raymond

BOON, Kevin

BOON, Kevin

Section

BibliographyPrepared by Suzanne Hardy, Curriculum and Information Service, National Library, Auckland.

Non-fiction

BAKER, J.V.T.The New Zealand People at War: War Economy .Wellington, NZ: Historical Publications Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1965.

BARBER, Laurence H. Freyberg: Churchill’s Salamander.Auckland, NZ: Century Hutchinson,1989.

BEAGLEHOLE, Ann Facing the Past: Looking Back at Refugee Childhood in New Zealand,1940s–1960s.Wellington, NZ: Allen & Unwin, 1990.

BEVAN, Denys United States Forces in New Zealand 1942–45.Alexandra, NZ: MacPherson, 1992.

BIOLETTI, Harry The Yanks Are Coming: The American Invasion of New Zealand, 1942–1944.Auckland, NZ: Century Hutchinson,1989.

BLYTHE, John Soldiering On: A Soldier’s War in North Africa and Italy. London: Hutchinson, 1989.

Bernard Freyberg.Petone, NZ: Nelson Price Milburn, 1993.S1–S4

Charles Upham.Wellington, NZ: Kotuku Publishing,1994. S1–S4

The Future of The United Nations.New York: Franklin Watts, 1985.

The New Zealand army: A History from the 1840s to the 1990s. Christchurch, NZ: Public Relations NZ Army, 1990.

The Home Front: Life in New Zealand During World War II.Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Education, 1982.

New Zealand’s Pacific Frontline: GuadalcanalSolomon Islands Campaign 1942–1945. Wellington, NZ: New Zealand Defence Forces, 1992.

Home and Away: Images of New Zealanders in World War II .Auckland, NZ: David Bateman, 1990.

Bernard Freyberg, VC: A Soldier of Two Nations.London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1991.

Te Mura o Te Ahi: The Story of the Maori Battalion.Auckland, NZ: Reed Books, 1992.

New Zealand in Vietnam: A Study of the Use of Force in International Law. Palmerston North, NZ: Dunmore Press,1986.

Out in the Cold: Pacifists and Conscientious Objectors in New Zealand During World War II. Auckland, NZ: Reed Methuen Publishers, 1986.

Till Human Voices Wake Us. Auckland, NZ: Auckland University

Resource Book for TeachersBibliography

15151515

HAYMAN, Eva

HENDERSON, Jim

HORN, Alex

JACOBS, William Jay

JOHNSON, Edward

Land Girls.

MARTIN, Tony

Maori Battalion Returns

MULGAN, John

NELSON, Claire Loftus

New Zealand in the Vietnam War

New Zealand Remembers the End of World

New Zealanders at War.

PHILLIPS, Jock

POLLARD, Michael

SANDERS, Owen

SKWARKO, Krystyna

SMITH, Colin

TAYLOR, Capt. R.J.

THAKUR, Ramesh

War Years

WEBB, Raymond

WOOD, F.L.W.

WOODS, Harold and Geraldine

The Years Back: Making Do.

The Years Back: The New Decade

By the Moon and the Stars.Auckland, NZ: Random Century, 1992.

Gunner Inglorious 24563 Jim Henderson. Auckland, NZ: Hodder & Stoughton,1984.

Wings Over the Pacific: The RNZAF in the Pacific Air War.Auckland, NZ: Random Century, 1992.

Search for Peace: The Story of The United Nations.New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1994.

United Nations — Peacekeeper? London: Wayland Publishers, 1995.

(Video-recording)

TVNZ 1983 25 mins.

New Zealand Images of War.Palmerston North, NZ: Dunmore Press,1990.

(Videorecording).

NZ Film Unit 1946 10 mins.

Report on Experience. Auckland, NZ: Blackwood & Janet Paul Ltd, 1947.

Long Time Passing: New Zealand Memories of the Vietnam War. Wellington, NZ: National Radio, 1990.

Produced by the New Zealand Reading Room, Canterbury Public Library, 1990.

War II. Wellington, NZ: New Zealand Remembers, 1945–1995, 1995.

Wellington, NZ: Correspondence School (NZ) 1990 Bulletin 7.

Brief Encounter; American Forces and the New Zealand People 1942–1945: An Illustrated Essay.Wellington, NZ: Historical Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1992.

United Nations. (Organizations that help the world series). London: Exley Publications, 1993.

PRENDERGAST, Philip Te Pakanga = War. Auckland, N.Z: New House, 1994.

Incident at Featherston .Auckland, NZ: Heinemann Education,1990.

The Invited: The Story of 733 Polish Children Who Grew Up in New Zealand. Wellington, NZ: Millward Press, 1974.

The Killing Zone: New Zealand Infantry in Vietnam: 1967 to 1971. Wellington, NZ: AQU, 1994.

Kiwis in the Desert: The North African Campaign 1940–1943. Wellington, NZ: New Zealand Defence Force, 1992.

The United Nations at Fifty: Retrospect and Prospect.Dunedin, NZ: University of Otago Press,1995.

(Video-recording)

New Zealand Film Unit 1983 90 mins.

The Path to Nationhood: New Zealand’s Search for Security: 1945–1985. Auckland, NZ: MacMillan NZ, 1987.

The New Zealand People at War; Political and External Affairs. Wellington, NZ: War History Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1958.

The United Nations .New York: Franklin Watts, 1985.

(Video-recording)

New Zealand Film Unit, 1972 29 mins.

(Video-recording).

New Zealand Film Unit, 197228mins.

(Video-recording)The Years Back: The Women’s War.New Zealand Film Unit, 1972 33 mins.

16161616

MICROSOFT — Close Combat

PRESTON, Gaylene, FYFE, Judith

DAVIN, Dan

DAVIN, Dan

GEE, Maurice

JOSEPH, M.K.

LASENBY, Jack

LOCKYER, John

PUGSLEY, Christopher

SMITH, Paul

MORRIS, Keith and Nona

WERS, Richard

OLDHAM, Peter

STONE, Harold

Computer Software

Section

Fiction

The Salamander and the Fire: Collected War Stories.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.

Short Stories from the Second World War.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.

The ChampionAuckland, NZ: Puffin, 1989. S3–F2

I’ll Soldier No More.Auckland, NZ: Victor Gollancz, 1958.

The Mangrove Summer.Auckland, NZ: Oxford University Press,1988. S3–F2

Harry and the Anzac Poppy. Auckland, NZ: Reed Publishing, 1997.

© 1996 National Library of New Zealand

Books available at the Auckland Museum Shop

Scars on the Heart. David Bateman 1996

New Zealand at War: World War II, The New Zealand Perspective. Hodder Moa Beckett 1995

War stories our mothers never told us. Penguin Books 1995

Franklin Remembers: The War Years 1939– 1945.Franklin Historical Society, 1992

STOForest Rangers. Richard Stowers 1996

Lieutenant Stephen Polkinghorn. The New Zealand Military Historical Society Inc., 1984

The Jayforce Experience. Harold Stone 1994

(Windows 95) In this game you will be fighting in a campaign which took place in Normandy between June 6 and July 18, 1944. CloseCombat is an intriguing mix of historically accurate weapons and terrain, realistic combat psychology, and opportunities to change history through superior skill and leadership. The handbook gives a detailed history of the Normandy campaign and an overview of World War II.

Education Kit

ORDINARY PEOPLE New Zealand Remembers the Second World War Produced for the Department of Internal Affairs by Defence Partners with assistance from the New Zealand Ministry of Defence, the New Zealand National Archives, The United Nations Association of New Zealand, the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control, The Dominion and The Evening Post. 1995

This resource for secondary and intermediate schools uses newsreels, newspapers and personal accounts to show how the Second World War touched the lives of New Zealanders. The resource also highlights New Zealand's involvement in setting up the United Nations and its ongoing commitment to peacekeeping.

Resource Book for TeachersBibliography

17171717

18181818

EvaluationPlease photocopy this page, fill in the details and return to the Education Department — Scars on the Heart Evaluation, Auckland Museum, Private Bag 92018, AUCKLAND.

School:_______________________________________________________

Class level:_______________________________________________________

Date of Use:_____________________________________________

On a scale of 1–5, to what extent do you believe the curriculum objectives were met in this education kit?

Extremely satisfied 1 2 3 4 5 Not at all satisfied

Comments:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On a scale of 1–5, how do you rate the range of learning activities and opportunities suggested in the education kit?

Extremely valuable 1 2 3 4 5 Not very valuable

Comments:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Were you satisfied that the exhibition Scars on the Heart offered your students a unique learning opportunity, in that the experiences offered would be difficult toprovide in a normal classroom environment?


Comments:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On a scale of 1–5 how satisfied were you with the Museum Interpreter's manner with your class?


Comments:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Section

Resource Book for Teachers

Section

Education KitEducation KitEducation KitEducation Kit The Road

to War

Time, Continuity and ChangeLevel 4: Achievement Objective

Students will: describe and compare the stories of selected agreements, including the Treaty of Waitangi, that established special relationships between people or between people and authorities.

Level 5: Achievement Objectives

Students will: identify significant groups and leaders who gained positions of relative power and influence over others and describe their value systems, development and impacts;investigate and report on how past events and agreements, including the Treaty of Waitangi, have influenced relationships within and between communities and nations.

Level 6: Achievement Objective

Students will: identify and describe examples of evolutionary and revolutionary change, including examples of different ways people respond to change and show their opposition or support.


Students will: analyse the development of a significant period of political, social, or technological concern, showing how the development changed, and was changed by, creative leaders and thinkers;collect and interpret information from a range of available primary sources to explain the changes and development aspects of life for a group of people over an extended period.


Students will: compare changes during a selected period of time in Great Britain and another country in terms of who made the decisions, how people influenced change, and the stability of the country.

Social Organisation and ProcessesLevel 3: Achievement Objective

Students will: describe and compare different ways that groups choose or appoint people to leadership positions and give sound reasons for these differences.


Students will:collect, interpret and present information about how people respond to crises, how groups organise and plan to cope with emergencies, and how the rights and responsibilities of women, men and children change in times of challenge; identify and describe how individuals, groups and organisations in their community address challenges within and beyond New Zealand.


Students will: outline and compare different systems of government, analyse their impact on the lives of individuals and groups, and discuss how people exercise their rights and responsibilities to bring about change; analyse tensions and conflicts that can arise within and between groups and nations, considering the impacts of conflict and outlining possible ways of resolving them.

HistoryForm 5, Theme 4

International Relations, Origins of World War II 1919–1941

Form 6, Theme DImperialism, Indigenous Peoples and the Emergence of New Nations, The Growth of New Zealand Identity 1890–1980

Social Studies in the New Zealand Curriculum Revised Draft

Section


to War

Starter ActivityInformation to share:

On 1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland. In New Zealand Michael Savage’s Labour Government proclaimed a state of Emergency to prepare us for war. On 3 September at 9.30pm. New Zealand Standard Time we declared war on Germany, together with the United Kingdom, France, India, Australia and Canada. Our weak and ill-equipped territorial forces were mobilised and the coastal defences manned. The two cruisers of the New Zealand division of the Royal Navy went to sea. HMS Achilles sailed for America and the HMS Leandertook our few regular infantry soldiers to guard the important cable station at Fanning Island in the Pacific.

Read this extract aloud and invite students to illustrate the key points with diagrams, symbols or sketches. Ask students to share the information as they interpreted it, in pairs. Hand out copies of the extract to affirm accuracy. Pose the following questions for research.

Ask:Why were our territorial forces weak and ill-equipped? What was the attitude of the leaders in New Zealand at the beginning of the war?Why was the war in Europe considered such a threat to New Zealand?

Further information to share:

In the 1930s the Labour Government had worked hard through the League of Nations to achieve world disarmament.Some Cabinet ministers had gone to prison during WWI be cause of their opposition to conscription. War was against everything the Labour Government had worked for, yet with the threat that Hitler’s Germany presented, there was no other choice. In the League of Nations, William Jordan the New Zealand representative, had argued for international action even to the use of combined force to halt aggression such as Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia. In this forum New Zealand took a very independent policy to that of the appeasement practised by Britain and France.

On the outbreak of war Savage was already a sick man, and his Deputy Peter Fraser carried the burden of being Prime Minister: it was a leadership role he would fulfil through-out the war. Savage’s statement of willingness to follow Britain, was tempered by the knowledge of 60,000 New Zealand casualties in WWI, and the determination to ensure that New Zealand’s national interests were never forgotten.

ResearchInformation to share:

The faces of the dictators are obvious;Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany, Benito Mussolini of Fascist Italy, and Hideki Tojo, War Minister and Prime Minister of Japan from 1940 to 1944. There is also Josef Stalin of the Soviet Union; although he fought with the allies, and his country bore the brunt of the fighting in Europe, and suffered the heaviest casualties. Two equally strong democratic leaders dictated success or defeat in WWII. Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1940 had the resolve to fight on alone after the fall of France, at a time that Stalin was in league with Hitler over the invasion of Poland. Churchill personified the resolve of the British peoples and the countries of the British Empire, at a time when members of his cabinet urged him to negotiate peace terms. Franklin Roosevelt, President of the United States, supported Great Britain beyond reasonable bounds of neutrality.

Find out which countries liaised in WWII and what they were fighting for. Mark these countries on a map of the world.Record the date that war broke out and what triggered it. Research the Treaty of Versailles which was drawn up at the end of WWI, and find out the attitudes and opinions of the people in the countries concerned.

LeadershipSelect one of the following leaders; Peter Fraser, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Franklin Roosevelt, Hideki Tojo or Josef Stalin. Work individually or in a group to research their rise to power. Activities:

State at least one important date and event in the leader’s life, and explain what impact this person made on WWII.Make a time line listing important dates and events in the life of the leader selected. Illustrate with cartoons or pictures. Display and be prepared to answer questions about your research. Collect a range of quotations of this person. Decide what these quotations tell you about his personality. Write a personality outline and share it with others.Write an original radio script or play that describes an important event in the life of your selected leader.Rehearse the script with other students and present it.

PostersCollect a range of posters which persuade people to work for the war. There are some examples printed in the ResourceBook for Teachers included in this Education Kit. Display copies of the posters on the war and underneath invite students to write their interpretations of the messages the posters convey.

Design your own war poster. Select a date and a conflict. Make your poster reflect the attitudes of the times.

ChoiceAsk:

Why do men and women choose to go to war?

Collect posters, speeches and quotations which explain the reasons for many people's involvement in war. If possible interview a war veteran and find out what made that person decide to go to war.

Ask:Why did some men and women choose not to go to war?

Find out about the conscientious objectors. What happened to them? Ask students to write individual statements about their views of going to war, fighting for their rights, and fighting to protect their families.

PowerHold a class discussion about the following leaders; Churchill, Hitler, Mussolini, Roosevelt, Tojo and Stalin.

Ask:What power did each of these leaders have?How did they acquire it? What do you understand by the terms democracy and dictatorship?

Compare some of the characteristics of WWII leaders with contemporary leaders.Use the newspapers and gather material for files on current world leaders.

Ask:What do you think are some of the characteristics of successful leadership? Write a list of at least ten attributes. (Assessment)

Section


to War

ResearchFind out what these words or phrases mean:

the final solution ghetto holocaust gas chambers Gestapo ethnic cleansing Treblinka

What is their connection? Write a summary paragraph about your research.Set up a classroom display of books, pictures and information about this topic.

Quotations“In simplest terms the question of who or what caused the Second World War can be answered in two words: Adolf Hitler.”

— Eric Hobsbawm, Age of Extremes

“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

— Winston Churchill, House of Commons speech, 13 May 1940

“There is only one right in the world and that right is one’s own strength.”

— Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer of Germany 1933–1945

“I need several thousand dead to be able to take my place at the peace table.”

— Mussolini in justifying Italy’s intervention in the Second World War

“We must be the greatest arsenal of democracy.”

— Franklin Roosevelt, President of the United States 1933–1945

“A military man without poetry is a savage, not a samurai.”

— Kanzo Uchimura

“…Both with gratitude for the past, and with confidence in the future, we range ourselves beside Britain. Where she goes, we go. Where she stands, we stand…”

— Michael Savage in a radio broadcast to New Zealand, 5 September 1939

“Leaving home finally was a dreadful experience. Dad was OK but Mum and the girls were very upset. Mum had a brother in the 1914–1918 war, and although he returned, she did not expect

me to be so lucky. She was distraught and very fearful for my safety. The mail coach driver tooted the horn. ‘Get on the bloody bus and go, lad,’ said Dad. ‘Mum will recover.’”

— Shorty Lovegrove, New Zealand Divisional Cavalry

“I joined the Territorial Forces in May 1939 when it became obvious that war was inevitable. I was given a medical at Rutland Street Drill Hall, was accepted and was asked to do a fortnight’s pre-training at Narrow Neck camp. I did so and was posted to 1st Heavy Group, New Zealand Coastal Artillery for weekend camps. Our drills were on 6 inch and 12 pounder guns at North Head.”

— Fred Mosley, 13th Battery, 1st Heavy Group, New Zealand Artillery, North Head

EgyptEgyptEgyptEgypt “Thursday 25 April 1940 … Anzac Day. Have read and re-read of the Anzacs but never thought that one day I would be one myself. Let’s hope I and everyone else measures up to their standard."

— C. J. Moss, 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion

“I was arrested several times. The first occasion was outside Parliament Buildings the day after war was declared… (in Mount Crawford Prison). One of the most interesting jobs that I struck was cleaning up the Massey Memorial…Twenty years before… I wrote a letter to a member of the small and at that time very Pacifist Labour Party congratulating them as a returned soldier on the very good stand they had made in the House against the militaristic policy of the Reform Party (then led by Massey). Peter Fraser read my letter with approval to the House… but now here I was Peter Fraser’s prisoner and polishing up the fine marble of his predecessor's grave.”

— Ormond Burton, Methodist Minister and Pacifist, 2nd Lieutenant Auckland Regiment in WW1

Freyberg, VC Freyberg, VC Freyberg, VC Freyberg, VC “I was at once struck not only by his personality and by his obvious experience and confidence, but particularly by the supreme importance which he clearly attached to the proper treatment of the troops and the necessity of proper and timely administrative measures to ensure their welfare and safety.”

— Peter Fraser

Section

Education KitEducation KitEducation KitEducation Kit Sea and Air

Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum

Technological Knowledge and UnderstandingLevel 3: Achievement Objective

Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 4444 identify and compare the ways particular technological developments are communicated and promoted to specific groups, such as information on packaging.


Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 3333 compare how different groups of people carry out technological activities.


Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 4444 compare strategies for the communication of different types of technological innovation.


Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 1111 identify and discuss in detail the relationship between the use and operation of a range of technologies.

Technology and Society Level 6: Achievement Objective

Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 8888 examine and compare the factors that have influenced, and may affect in the future, the development and impact of some major technological innovations.


Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 8888 investigate and debate the perceived social and economic impacts of some specific examples of technological development.


Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 8888 analyse and critically evaluate the social and economic impacts of some significant technological developments in a variety of settings, debating viewpoints, and exploring options for the future.

Section


Starter ActivityQuotation to share:

“After a stint on the minesweeper I got a posting to motor torpedo boats. My first boat was MTB266 under a New Zealander, Norman Broad from Dunedin. We would lie up in Turkish waters and operate by night against the German supply ships.One night we were operating near the island of Rhodes and we ran into a German convoy. I was down below in my wireless office and I knew the attack was going on. The next thing I heard an almighty explosion immediately over my head, a shell had gone right through our cockpit. It killed the skipper instantly, the coxswain was in a pretty bad way. I was busy trying to push a morphine ampoule into the coxswain to relieve his pain because he was screaming in agony, but he died shortly afterwards. At this stage the boat was out of control heading for Rhodes but they managed to get the auxiliary steering rigged up and turned the boat back towards Turkey. Something like that didn’t happen very often you know, war’s a lot of boring episodes with not much action in between.”

— Alan Cozens, RNZN

On a map of the world locate the place where this action took place. List the technological equipment mentioned.Find pictures, photographs or illustrations of some of this equipment if possible.Find out how it was used.

As a class, brainstorm the technological equipment available during WWII. Group the information to facilitate thinking and to initiate study questions for further research. Examples of headings; transport, food containers and packaging, communication systems, clothing, medicine… Select one of these headings for group study. Compare the list of equipment used in WWII with today’s equivalent products. Explain the differences in technology.

Collect books, pictures, film and family memorabilia to build up a class reference area for aspects of technology used in WWII.

CommunicationInformation to share:

“The authorities wanted a radio on Pitcairn and I was asked to go and set up a new station…My job was to set up the radio station and act as coast watcher to report on any enemy shipping, especially Q-ships which had operated in the area in the First World War.On Pitcairn I had to rig up a power supply from the four-cylinder petrol motor to my house and I put up an antenna between two coconut trees. That worked very successfully. I was also asked to set up a meteorological office and send daily weather reports. In four years I kept in daily contact with ZLW Wellington on Tinakori Hill and with Suva.”

— Nelson Dyett, from Ordinary People, an Education Kit covering New Zealand's involvement in WWII.

As a group, brainstorm the topic, Communication in WWII. Make a chart (mind map) showing different communication systems used during WWII. An example chart is printed in the Resource Book for Teachers included in this education kit.

Work in small groups. Select one of the communication systems used in WWII, e.g. radio. Compare the system with the systems we use today. Investigate fully by comparing the materials used, the mechanisms and their uses. For each system determine the advantages and disadvantages and make a list. Consider time, censorship, place and circumstances. Share with other groups.

Ask:How would today’s communication systems have affected aspects of WWII?What is the importance of developing accurate, reliable and fast communication systems?

(Assessment) What developments do you predict in communication systems of the future?(Assessment)

OutcomesList a range of ships or planes used in WWII. Collect pictures and make a wall display. Beside each ship or plane note their capabilities.

Ask:How did the air and sea technology developed in WWII affect the strategies of the war? (Consider trade routes, key production sites and distances between war zones.)

InterviewGroup or individual research:

Make inquiries within your community, with your own family and friends, and find out if there are any survivors of the New Zealand Navy or Air Force from WWII living in the neighbourhood. Either arrange an interview or write a letter to ask about their memories and experiences during service in WWII. If possible tape the person you interview.Compare their thoughts and memories with the quotations listed on the back cover.

Comparisons: Navy Information to share:

We started the war as the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy with the two modern six-inch gun cruisers HMS Achilles and Leander, the mine sweeping trawler Wakakura and our first ship Philomel which is now a hulk tied against the Navy Wharf at Devonport in Auckland.A number of small ships were hastily commandeered and used for port inspections or fitted as minesweepers.Four inch guns were fitted to protect our merchant ships, and the Union Steam Ship Liner Monowai was requisitioned and fitted out as an armed merchant cruiser. Both cruisers were released to the Admiralty for operations. The Leanderfirst took a garrison to Fanning Island, and Achilles commanded by Captain W E Parry took up war station patrolling the South Atlantic off South America searching for German transport ships and surface raiders.

Compare the Royal New Zealand Navy and Merchant Navy during the war and as it is today. If possible visit the Royal New ZealandNavy at Devonport. You will need to book your visit.

Comparisons: Air Force Information to share:

The Royal New Zealand Air Force was established in 1937. On the outbreak of war we saw our role as the provision of trained aircrew to serve with the RAF. A New Zealand quota was agreed under the Empire Air Training Scheme which would see New Zealand train 880 pilots a year, and in addition send 520 pilots, 546 observers and 936 air gunners to Canada where they would complete their training.When this was agreed the threat to New Zealand was seen as requiring coastal surveillance and reconnaissance against surface raiders. In New Zealand there was instructional and maintenance staff only, plus three bomber reconnaissance squadrons which formed our home defence. Everything was aimed at getting manpower to Britain and by 1941 we had exceeded our quota targets, providing 1480 fully trained and 850 partly trained pilots per year. We were almost too efficient and by 1944 the supply of pilots and aircrew outstripped Britain’s ability to provide aircraft. Hundreds of New Zealanders were diverted to the Fleet Air Arm orreturned to man our squadrons in the Pacific.

Compare our air power during the war with our air power today. If possible arrange a visit to the Royal New Zealand Air Force at Whenuapai. You will need to book your visit.

DesignCollect examples of advertisements and product packaging used in WWII and a selective range of advertising and marketing used today. Make a wall display comparing the styles. Look at the ways the typography has changed.

Ask:How has the writing changed?What has caused these changes?

Organise a survey. Question family members of different age groups about their training to write. Why was legible handwriting considered so important in the past? Which written messages are considered important today?

Section


Quotations“The gun crews worked like galley slaves, loving it all, with no time to think of anything but the job. The whole of the Turret from top to bottom thought that the action lasted about twenty minutes. The rammer numbers were very tired towards the end, but they did not appear to notice that till it was all over… Men lost all count of time.”

— Turret Officer, HMS Achilles

“When the alarm rattlers sounded in the Achilles, a signalman with a flag under his arm ran aft shouting, ‘Make way for the Digger flag!’ and proceeded to hoist a New Zealand ensign to the mainmast head to the accompaniment of loud cheers from the four-inch gun crews. For the first time a New Zealand cruiser was about to engage the enemy.”

— S D Waters, Royal New Zealand Navy

“I was nineteen when war broke out and was at home at my parent’s place. An older brother was on HMS Achilles in the Battle of the River Plate in September 1939. He was severely wounded and was in the Falkland Islands hospital for a number of weeks before he was able to come home. I had a younger brother who was also in the Navy and then my other brothers slowly and surely joined up; one in the air force and three in the army. My eldest brother was not fit to go away but he served in the army throughout the war.It was a great worry to us all really, not knowing what it was all about and what was going to happen. I had a fiance who went off in the First Echelon and he was killed. After my brother in the navy was wounded we got this terrible telegram.Each day you’d see the postman come down the road and you'd think, ‘Oh, another telegram today.’ But fortunately we didn’t get another one. They were distressing days, very distressing.”

— Patricia Connew, Clerk, Navy Office, Wellington

“He gave the order to ram. At the same time he thought he’d better let the engine room know what was going on. So he shouted down the voice pipe, ‘Stand by to ram.’ When the voice came back from the engine room, ‘What the hell do you mean when you ram?’ he replied, ‘I don't know. I’ve never done it before.’”

— David Graham describing the actions of Lieutenant-Commander Gordon Bridson RNZNVR commanding MNNZS Kiwi

“I landed very heavily indeed. Fortunately I landed in a rice paddy field. Most of the problem was with these army idiots who were thumping me around with rifle butts.I learned they hated us because we were the invaders and they hadn’t been invaded for a thousand years or more. One of our pilots was shot down on the same day as we were and was beheaded. The aircrew got the rough end of the stick.We were in solitary cells not much bigger than our red telephone boxes, and were fed once a day. The door was opened by a guard. He rolled a ball of rice and soya bean on the floor and he put a little tin of water there — and that was your lot.”

— Ian Darby, RNZNVR, Observer, Fleet Air Arm

“In May I was posted to No. 21 Operational Training Unit, RAF Moreton-in-the Marsh, Gloustershire. Our first task was to be crewed up and training began in earnest in Vickers Wellingtons flying almost every day and most nights on cross-country navigation exercises, bombing on the range… and plenty of ground lectures. Added to this was an assortment of exercises such as escape procedures, parachute drills, dinghy drill and so on. I was introduced to ‘Gee’ the secret navigation aid which by reference to radar pulses one could plot the aircraft’s position on a map grid. The training was intensive and I believe thorough.”

— Lloyd Noble, RNZAF, 102 Squadron RAF

“Crews had to contend with mid air collisions, falling bombs from other aircraft, problems arising from unserviceability, shocking weather including ice, unreliable forecast winds, Path Finder Force marking aircraft late on target, bad target marking, faulty landings by tired pilots and so on. Another hazard, apart from night fighters in the bomber stream, was the presence of enemy fighters in the landing circuit. Aircraft attacked in this situation rarely had survivors. These caused real problems early in the war when tired and less vigilant crews were picked off.”

— Lloyd Noble, RNZAF, 102 Squadron, RAF

Section

Education KitEducation KitEducation KitEducation Kit A Long

Hard Road

Greece and Crete 1941 War in the Desert 1941–1943 Slogging up Italy 1943–1945


Students will: explain why new groups are formed and present, in a variety of ways, information about how different groups organise themselves and make decisions to meet different situations.




Students will: analyse tensions and conflicts that can arise within and between groups and nations, considering the impacts of conflict and outlining possible ways of resolving them.

Time, Continuity and ChangeLevel 5: Achievement Objectives


HistoryForm 5: Theme 2

Race Relations, New Zealand: Maori and Pakeha 1912–1980

Form 6: Theme DImperialism, Indigenous Peoples and the Emergence of New Nations, The Growth of New Zealand Identity1890–1980


Section


Hard Road

Starter ActivityOn a map of Europe, the Mediterranean, and North Africa (Outline map in ResourceBook for Teachers included in this Education Kit) mark in the following places where the New Zealand army fought in WWII.

Greece:Greece:Greece:Greece: Larisa, Thermopylae, Piraeus, Athens (New Zealand army retreat from advancing German army. Evacuation, 25 April 1941 to Crete)

Crete:Crete:Crete:Crete: Retimo, Heraklion, Maleme, Galatos, Sphakia (Evacuation, 27 August 1941 to Alexandria)

North Africa:North Africa:North Africa:North Africa: Tobruk (Libya), El Alamein (Egypt), Minqar Qaim (Egypt), Takrouna (Tunisia) (German and Italian forces withdraw after the battle of Alamein. By February 1943, Libya was in Allied hands.)

Italy:Italy:Italy:Italy: Orsogna, Cassino, Florence, Trieste(The Italian Government surrendered but the German army established a number of defences. German forces finally surrendered on 2 May 1945.)

Activities:Select one or more key battles to research. Find out what happened.Make a time line or sequence picture strip to record the events of the battle.Was the campaign successful or not?Why? Why not? Share your research with others. Collect resources for further study e.g. books, tapes, records, newspaper or magazine articles. Set up a reference centre for others to use.

LeadershipIf you were a commander of one of the New Zealand forces during WWII, what qualities of leadership do you think it would be important to have? Use the following list as a start, then add to it.Rate the attributes of a good military commander in order of importance.Justify your choices.

ability to plan calm temperament a brave disposition knowledge of tactics ability to communicate well good discipline

Identify some of the leaders involved with the New Zealand forces e.g. Montgomery, Freyberg. What qualities did they have?

Diary EntryRead the following quotation: “I scrambled off the truck ran fifty yards and down flat on my face. Then the scream of bombs and I thought my time had come. Then the bombs landed and exploded. One, two, three, four!!… Had a look. The nearest bomb to me was about twenty yards away. Fortunately they were small bombs. A big one would have shaken me badly or got me. Dived into a ditch as the planes started machine gunning. Two tins of petrol on the back of our truck have been holed and one bullet cut the electric wires to the headlights. A lump of shrapnel made some great rents in our tent. Blast the Hun!!”

— C J Moss, 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion, withdrawal from Greece

Write a diary or log entries and describe what might have happened following this incident during the next 24 hours. Include details about looking for survivors, repairing the damage, the next meal and travel difficulties. What do you think were the worst difficulties the New Zealand contingent faced as they withdrew from Greece?

QuotationsSelect a quotation from the back cover that appeals to you. Illustrate it and if possible describe a before and after sequence of events.

Maori BattalionInformation to share:The 28th Maori Battalion remained the only volunteer unit in 2 NZEF for the duration of the war. The battalion built a reputation for courage and bravery in Greece, Crete and North Africa. By 1943 the battalion was tired and desperately in need of reinforcements. Italy was to see it suffer heavy casualties, particularly at Orsogna and again in the Cassino battles.

Two companies of the 28th Maori Battalion (240 men) were committed to capture the Cassino railway station, while engineers bridged gaps along the railway line to allow the tank support to come through. However the German 1 Parachute Division (reputedly the best Division in the German Army) had time to occupy the ruins before the attack. The Maori Battalion were struck badly on the minefields and progress towards the station rail yards was slow. The enemy overlooked them from every quarter and it was only a matter of time before the Germans launched a counter-attack. Only 66 men reached safety when they finally withdrew.

Find out about other campaigns in which the Maori Battalion played a leading role.See if any people in your community were in the Maori Battalion. Collect pictures and memorabilia. Make a wall display.

Ask:Who were the Maori leaders?Who received honours? Why do you think the Maori Battalion were effective? (Leadership?Fighting traditions?) What effects did the losses suffered by the Maori Battalion have on the Maori community?

Prisoners of WarInformation to share:

“The morning dawned cold, the Jerry paratroopers came up in groups along the road. We watched carefully to see what happened to other people and out of the drains, from ditches, culverts etc., odd groups of our own people stood up and put up their hands. So on the 27th of April which was a Sunday we had the ignominious business of being captured.”

— Ted Everton, 1 New Zealand General Hospital

Ted Everton was taken prisoner in Greece in April 1941 and like many New Zealanders captured in Greece and Crete was a prisoner of war for four years until released by Patton’s Army on 24/25 April 1945. The number of New Zealanders taken prisoner during WWII was far greater than experienced in WWI. This was due to the initial losses on Greece and Crete, and the mobile nature of the war in the desert where large numbers of New Zealanders were captured in 1941 and 1942. It was often months before their families knew whether they were alive or dead. They lived with the guilt of having been taken prisoner, and with the restrictions and frustrations of prison life.They saw and experienced the worst and best of human behaviour, and that experience stayed with them for the rest of their lives.

Ask:What were the feelings of the prisoners? (Make a list of the feelings.)Why did they feel like this? How do prisoners cope with isolation, deprivation and restrictions? (Read The Diary of Anne Frank.)What might be the aftermath of being a prisoner of war? (…on the person who was a prisoner? …on the family of the prisoner?)

Section


Hard Road

Quotations“My first time in action and I was so busy looking after my gun I didn’t even think of being hit. Some bullets came pretty close but our fire was so searching the Germans kept well down… Looking back to our first action. Vivid memories — chiefly excitement and a sense of being trapped although when we opened fire I felt no fear at all.”

— C J Moss, 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion

“I was too tired to be worried by anything when Pat told us that the ship had sailed without us. I merely sank to the ground and fell asleep ‘all standing’. But with the dawn came a move and we scattered for cover to hole up for the day. ‘So this was the last stage of our big retreat!’ Instead of being well on the way back to Egypt, we were still in Greece, sans truck, sans grub, sans equipment, sans almost everything except hope. For days and nights past, we had been on the move, almost one jump ahead of Jerry, constantly machine gunned and bombed from the air, and we had come through unscathed to wreck our equipment, climb aboard a ship, and call it a day in Greece.And now it had gone without us!”

— E Saunders, 6 Field Regiment, NZ Artillary (Saunders and party were rescued at Porto Rafti.)

“Well the attack came early one morning after the dive-bombers and fighters had a pretty continuous go, to silence any ground opposition. Then came the huge silvery gliders carrying troops, and dozens of planes literally dropping parachutes in their hundreds - both troops and stores.Some of them landed barely 150 yards from us. This with the planes circling barely more than 200 feet above our heads. You can imagine the roar of the engines intermingled with the crackle of machine guns and rifles as the battle started.”

— Vincent Salmon, 19 Battalion (Defence of Crete)

“They were mature men, these New Zealanders in the desert, quiet and shrewd and sceptical. They had none of the tired patience of the Englishmen, nor that automatic discipline that never questions orders to see if they make sense. Moving in a body detached from their homeland, they remained quiet and aloof and self-

contained. They had confidence in themselves, such as New Zealanders rarely have, knowing themselves as the best the world could bring against them, like a football team in a more deadly game, coherent, practical, successful.

— John Mulgan, Report on Experience

“Rommel had chosen his time well. He came in under a rising sun which must have shown up our positions clearly, while our gunners were compelled to shoot into the glare. He brought his tanks up within 2500 yards and then forming them into a crescent shape, opened fire… One by one our trucks were struck and set on fire, a load of land mines blew up, causing a minor earthquake, and then a truck full of shells. The enemy placed the fire of his heavier guns down on our small gun line at the rear of the main camp, while his tanks concentrated their lighter shells on the transport. The machine guns sprayed the camp. In all my experience of war I have never seen such a concentration of fire.”

— James Hargest, Farewell Campo 12

“With the 20th rushed Charles Upham.Those who saw him at the start noticed the huge load of grenades he carried, some said in a sandbag, but certainly in a stuffed haversack around his shoulders…They watched him with his bag of grenades, tossing them at every target he saw, regardless of the risk of wounding himself from the explosion of his own bombs. It was throw… throw…rush in…another truck — throw…rush.”

— Kenneth Sandford, Mark of the Lion

“From our worm’s eye view of the Cassino battle, it appeared there was never a chance of victory. The Texans had been murdered at Sant’ Angelo; the Maoris failed miserably to capture the railway station; the 6th Brigade did not get far into the town. The rains came at the wrong time, turning the battlefield into a quagmire. This plus the saturation bombing which reduced Cassino to rubble, made it almost impassable to men on foot, let alone tanks. The enemy positions were manned by possibly the elite of the German Army — The First Parachute Division… All these things added up to the disaster that eventuated.”

— C W Hollis, 21 Battalion

Section

Education KitEducation KitEducation KitEducation Kit War in

the Pacific








Students will: identify and depict features of significant places, e.g. Hiroshima, that have changed over time, explaining the significance of the places and reporting an investigation of the reasons for these changes.



HistoryForm 5: Internally assessed component

an historical issue, personality or event

Form 6: Theme DImperialism, Indigenous Peoples and the Emergence of New Nations, The Growth of New Zealand Identity 1890–1980


Section


the Paci�c

Starter ActivityMake a time line showing the following important dates and events which happened during the war in the Pacific.Research to find further information, dates and events to add to your time line. 7 December 1941:Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour15 February 1942:Fall of Singapore 27 October 1943:New Zealand assault on Mono Island 30 January 1944:Landing on Nissan island 6 August 1945:Bombing of Hiroshima 15 August 1945:Surrender of JapanDisplay the time line and be prepared to answer questions about it. (Assessment)

MappingOn a map of the Pacific mark in the main areas of conflict during WWII. How near did the Japanese army get to New Zealand?

GraphInformation to share:

With the entry of Japan into the war New Zealand turned itself into an armed camp.Improvisation was the order of the day.Some 13,250 were men in training, and a further 4,600 were manning the coastal defences. The Territorials were mobilised and by January 1942 there were 39,350 men in camps throughout New Zealand.By March our manpower resources were at full stretch with 67,264 men of the services in camp in New Zealand, and 100,000 members of the Home Guard. At the same time we had 61,368 overseas.

Make a graph comparing the numbers of men of the services in camp in New Zealand, the numbers in the Home Guard, and the numbers serving overseas. Find out what the total population of New Zealand was at the beginning of WWII.Compare the number of men working to defend our country with the total population.

Find out why the soldiers stationed in the Middle East were not allowed to return home to defend New Zealand after the fall of Singapore.

QuotationsRead the quotations on the back cover.Select five which illustrate different points of view about the war. Write some key words to summarise each writer’s feelings.

Write some of your own feelings about conflict. Would there be any circumstances when you might be compelled to kill a person? What kinds of living things would you kill without concern?

ResearchInformation to share:

The Green Islands Group consisted of a small circular coral atoll made up of three islands, the largest one was Nissan Island with two small islands Barahun and Sirot.It was wanted as an airfield and motor torpedo boat base for the attack on Rabaul. The New Zealand operation was a superb piece of coordination and planning involving ships and resources that had to be gathered together from the hundreds of kilometres from where they were spread throughout the Pacific.

Find out where the Green Island Group are on a map of the Pacific. Locate Mono Island and Vella Lavella. These are all islands within the Solomon Islands Group, and they were places where the New Zealand Expeditionary Force fought.

Make inquiries in your family and community to find out if anyone served in the Solomon Islands during WWII. Ask them to describe the conditions they were fighting under. Gather books, pictures and quotations which give further information about the war in this area of the Pacific.

Write a list of the difficulties and hardships endured by the soldiers fighting in these islands. What might they have missed from home?

DebateInformation to share:

At 8.15am on 6 August 1945 the B-29 Bomber Enola Gay commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets opened her bomb-bay doors and dropped a single bomb suspended by parachute on Hiroshima.Fifty-one seconds later, at a height of 600 metres Little Boy, which was the code name for the atomic bomb, exploded above central Hiroshima. The aiming point or “ground zero” was just south of the army headquarters, at the northern tip of the island containing Hiroshima’s airport. It was a densely built-up area with mixed residential, commercial, military, and small industrial buildings. Hiroshima had escaped the mass bombing raids suffered by other Japanese cities. Its citizens had become used to small numbers of enemy planes in the skies overhead and because of this tended to ignore air-raid precautions.Most factory workers were already at work, while school children were in the open clearing firebreaks against the feared firestorms of the massed bombing raids.These were the immediate casualties in the blast of the bomb which blew down buildings, and set off innumerable fires fanned by the violent “fire-wind” caused by the intense heat. Practically every building in the city was damaged and the wooden Japanese residential buildings were totally destroyed. The death toll was equally severe; 70,000–80,000 people were instantly killed and the same number injured. This death toll would rise with deaths from radiation sickness to 130,000.

Debate the issues of the atomic bomb.Do you think the atomic bomb should have been used? Find quotations to support your views.

Prisoner of WarQuotation to share:

“This camp consisted of a portion of a suburb, an area not half a mile square, which was enclosed by two high barbed wire fences covered with native matting so we could not see out. We lived in the houses in the area… To begin with only about 2000 women and children were interned here. At first conditions were good, but gradually numbers were increased until we were about 11,000 people in this very small area and the

overcrowding was incredible.Our treatment varied according to the men who were in charge of the camp. The first commandant made the conditions as good as… He was replaced by a second man who instituted something of a reign of terror… we had occasional foodless days. They were always given as punishment though we seldom knew the cause.”Leila Bridgeman, Tjideng Camp after the fall of Singapore and capture by the Japanese

Ask:What might be the feelings of the prisoners? Why? List the possible feelings.How do prisoners cope with prison conditions do you think? Why do you think the Japanese treated their prisoners like this? What might be the aftermath of being a prisoner of war? (…on the person? …on their family?)

Impact of WarInformation to share:

When our coast-watchers arrived in the outer islands of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands they found the young women still went around topless, but this changed once these strange palagi men arrived.And the change was permanent. The war brought a knowledge of the outside world to the Pacific that was irreversible. Motor cars, planes, shipping, radio communications, chewing gum, Coca Cola, ice cream, the movies and money.All the trappings of civilisation that would change their lives forever. Self-sufficiency was replaced by a permanent dependence that for many islands continues to the present day. This is one of the lasting legacies of the Pacific war.

List the advantages and disadvantages for the Pacific Islanders, of contact with the outside world. Write a summary statement giving your views of the impact of war on the Pacific Islanders.

Section


the Pacific

Quotations“Increasingly as time went on, we had alarms and spent many nights manning our mosquito infested trenches. On one such occasion (it happened to be 7 December) one of the civilians called out from his house that he’d just heard on the wireless that the Japs had bombed Pearl Harbour. We told him not to be silly, but when we got back to camp we found it was true enough. We were still woefully short of arms but soon proper web equipment, Bren guns and mortars began to arrive. Very shortly another brigade joined us from New Zealand. We ceased to be the B-Force and became the Third Division 2 NZEF. In my unit I got a further 400 men and instead of being the Reserve Battalion we now became the 34th.

-— Lieutenant Colonel F W Voelcker, DSO, MC, 34 Battalion

“As far as the eye could see, the skies were red with the fires and glare of burning buildings, oil-dumps, and shipping; guns rumbled and shells crumpled back of the town.”

— Leslie Crago, Red Sky over Singapore

“I very soon realised that this kind of fighting was nothing like that for which we had trained; nor was it found in the books.For a start you had to fight in thick jungle.The huge trees created an artificial twilight even on a sunny day and, with visibility restricted by this darkness and the undergrowth too, at the most ten yards, operations resembled night fighting…The jungle blanketed sound and amazing situations would develop suddenly with machine guns firing at ten or fifteen yards’ range. There was practically no aimed shooting because there was very little to aim at. The hand grenade, Bren and Tommy guns were ideal but the rifle and bayonet comparatively useless… A sort of glorified ‘blind man’s buff’ for rather high stakes.”

— Lieutenant Colonel F W Voelcker, DSO,

MC, 3rd Battalion, Fiji Infantry Regiment “All told 52 dead Japs were counted in the area and on the beach below, in addition to which were eight killed by the section of 16 platoon. Souvenir hunters promptly seized rifles, hilt-encrusted swords three feet long worn by the officers, and rising sun flags taken from the insides of helmets and from the khaki clad bodies where they were worn under the uniform next to the skin.”

— Oliver Gillespie, Pacific Kiwis

“There were snapshots, too, that the Nipponese had left; of a wife in her kimono, of the kiddies at the seaside, of family groups, and scenes at the fair with bunting, ferris wheels and all the fun of the roundabout. Which reminded one that apparently in their complex personalities some form of love does leaven their bestial traits.”

— Oliver Gillespie, Pacific Kiwis

“They are a cheerful, hard-working, laconic, well-nigh anonymous lot of men, but American bomber pilots agree that there is absolutely no escort giving them a feeling of confidence like the Warhawk-flying New Zealanders.”

— New York Times

“When we heard about the nuclear bomb we didn’t realise its potential. But looking back in hindsight, if they hadn’t done that there would have been millions more casualties because the Japanese would have fought to death and there would have been millions more people killed.”

— Ngaire Darby

“I thought Hiroshima terrible. You just hoped that it would be the finish and might stop all the wars. But it doesn’t seem to have.”

— Mollie Whiting

“This was our first time to see motor cars.At first we were afraid of them because we had never seen anything move at such speed. We didn’t walk along the roads.But after a while we became used to them and it wasn’t long before we were riding in

Section

Education KitEducation KitEducation KitEducation Kit The Home

Front

Time, Continuity and ChangeLevel 6: Achievement Objectives

Students will: identify and describe examples of evolutionary and revolutionary change, including examples of different ways people respond to change and show their opposition or support; research and report on the people, strategies and achievements associated with important movements that have contributed to human well-being and individual rights.


Students will: analyse the development of a significant period of political, social, or technological concern, showing how the development changed, and was changed by, creative leaders and thinkers;collect and interpret information from a range of available primary sources to explain the changes and development aspects of life for a group of people over an extended period.


Students will: investigate and interpret a range of perspectives on a major period of change in New Zealand, deciding how conflict was resolved and evaluating the effectiveness of resolution; compare changes during a selected period of time in Great Britain and another country in terms of who made the decisions, how people influenced change, and the stability of the country.


Students will: explain why new groups are formed and present in a variety of ways, information about how different groups organise themselves and make decisions to meet different situations.



Resources and Economic ActivitiesLevel 3: Achievement Objective

Students will: investigate and compare different means of exchange by people in other times or places.


Students will: explain different forms of work — self employment, part time work, full time work, voluntary work, sheltered work, trainee work — and show how these combine and contribute to economic activity.


Students will: investigate and summarise the factors that determine how people and organisations make choices about using scarce resources and explain how attitudes change over time.

HistoryForm 5, Theme 6

Social Change; Women’s Impact on New Zealand Society: Health 1915–1985

Form 6, Theme AIndustrial and Social Change; Women, Family and Work in New Zealand 1880–1960


Section


Front

Starter ActivityCollect a range of books, photographs, pictures and memorabilia which illustrate women’s role in WWII. Investigate the family histories and collect personal stories. (It might be possible to obtain a copy of War Stories our mothers never told us, a film by Gaylene Preston, produced in association with the New Zealand Film Commission and New Zealand on Air. Distributed by Footprint Films Ltd.)

Group the pictures and label the groups, e.g. women doing men’s work, women coping without men, fundraising for the war, rationing.

Write a summary statement about what you consider the role of women during WWII to be. Continue with your research to check your statement and to add to it.

RationingDisplay a copy of the poster Yes,Complete Victory if you eat less Bread.(Refer to Resource Book for Teachers. )You may have a copy of another war poster which demonstrates rationing during WWII.

Ask:What does this poster mean?How many slices of bread equates to four pounds? Why was rationing introduced during WWII?What other forms of rationing were there?How do you think the people felt about the war time rationing and restrictions?

Make a list of war time rationing and describe some of the consequences of these restrictions. Find out about recycling e.g. no. 8 wire for knitting needles. Ask grandparents or great grandparents for ideas. Design your own poster to encourage war time rationing or recycling.

Find examples of creative recycling practised today e.g. a hat woven from plastic bags. Display examples. Design a poster encouraging people to recycle products today.

Americans in New ZealandFind out about the role of the American soldiers stationed in New Zealand during WWII, and the effects they had on the civilian population.

Make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of having the American soldiers in New Zealand. Then add any interesting factors which you consider are neither advantages or disadvantages e.g. nearly 1400 New Zealand women married US servicemen. Read through your lists, then write a summary statement.

The Home Guard Information to share: Many people wanted to play a more active role in defending New Zealand and volunteer home guard units sprang up throughout the country. In August 1940, the Home Guard gained recognition by the War Cabinet as a semi-military organisation which would provide pickets, patrols and sentries and would cooperate with the army if the need arose. By May 1941, Home Guard membership had reached 100,000 and soon after they transferred to army control. They were defined as part time infantry soldiers who were to take on the static defence of key posts and vulnerable localities and, in the event of attack, were to impose loss and delay to the enemy. By late 1943 the immediate threat of Japan had receded and the Home Guard put into reserve. They had operated for nearly three years and a total of 123,242 men had served. Their presence was reassuring and important for public morale and provided an opportunity for many to make a contribution to the war effort.

Ask:What was the role played by the Home Guard?How was New Zealand defended against possible invasion? What is your opinion of the way New Zealand was defended? Give reasons for your answer.

Women and Families at HomeRead through the quotations on the back cover. Select those which describe the lives of people waiting at home during WWII.

Activities:

• Interview a woman who can remember WWII and record their recollections.Ask about rationing, loneliness, correspondence, food parcels and friendships.

• Write a diary entry. Describe a day in the life of a family in New Zealand during WWII. Select which family member you wish to represent e.g. grandparent, mother, child. (Assessment)

Enemy AliensInformation to share:

When war broke out 3400 people resident in New Zealand were classified as enemyaliens. Of these approximately 180 men were interned on Somes Island in the middle of Wellington Harbour. They were a mixture of nationalities. Some were recent arrivals to New Zealand, but others like the Italians from Island Bay, had lived here for some time. Wives and children were left to fend for themselves and they were all hurt to be classified as enemyaliens by their adopted country.

In the two years preceding the war New Zealand had received approximately 1000 immigrants — mostly Jewish refugees from Hitler’s Europe. As German nationals, many were classified as enemy aliens . A few, because of their communist sympathies were interned on Somes Island and initially shared quarters withother Germans some of whom were Nazis. For the refugees it was ironic to be classified as enemy aliens , and they argued for a separate classification as refugee aliens which would more accurately reflect their status.

Ask:• What does this information tell you

about New Zealanders’ attitudes towards outsiders during WWII? Find quotations on the back cover to support your statements.

• Why were the refugees from Europe sent to Somes Island do you think?

Make a picture sequence story illustrating some of the main ideas in the story above and highlighting the feelings of the people concerned.

Section


Front

Quotations“When my father went into the Home Guard at Wellsford, where the main job was erecting pine tree road blocks against the Japanese, my mother and I looked after the farm and milked the cows. I remember how we struggled to carry a can full of cream to the road each morning and how we dragged every stick of wood home along the road and then chopped it up for the fire to cook meals.”

— Lauris Edmond, Women in Wartime

“I couldn’t ride a horse when I arrived in Hawke’s Bay, but I soon learnt. The station had no power, no phone, and no car, and it was my job to ride four miles to the mail corner and four miles back, up and down two hills on a winding road.Besides shepherding we mended fences and floodgates, fed wood (firewood) to our boss at the circular saw, and killed mutton for dog tucker when necessary.”


“One of the greatest post-war problems everywhere, will be the attitude of women towards giving up well paid jobs and returning to what many thousands of them consider household drudgery.”

— Daisy Basham M.B.E., Aunt Daisy

“Air raid practises added a touch of excitement to life. We had to evacuate the school (Papatoetoe) and return home in groups with a teacher, across country and avoiding the main road. We practised ducking under hedges to take cover.”


“If a sliver of light shone out through one of the windows of the houses at night time, there would be a heavy rap on the door and an EPS warden … would be wondering why you had this light shining and you were ordered instantly to prevent it shining through. So inside the windows of the house facing the sea we had impenetrable, black, tarry paper hanging down.”

— David Burdan, Gollans Valley, Eastbourne

“This little island is no longer in the safety zone, but right in the danger zone… and we have found it difficult to convince people that the enemy is right at our back door.”

— Hon. R. Semple, Minister of National Service, at launching of Auckland’s Home Guard

“My grandparents lived with us. Iremember the world map on the wall above the settee; Grandpa referred to it daily as he listened to the war news. He had pins that he moved from place to place as armies advanced or retreated… I can still remember the surprise I got after the war when hearing the familiar sound

sih‘Tybdewollof,oidarehtnoneBgiBfois the BBC. Here is the World News.’ As long as I could remember, Grandpa had daily tuned into the war news.”


“Rationing came early and was quite severe. If you went to a friend for lunch you took your own butter and egg. Meat and butter were rationed to small amounts for each person because Britain needed all the food we could send. Here in safe New Zealand you didn’t mind going short, and if you wanted to take a cake for a birthday you saved enough butter coupons until you had enough.”


“We didn’t know why they were taken.We were told later they were enemy aliens but they were not members of the Fascist Party, they were naturalised New Zealanders.”

— Maria Lamacchia

“We had trouble with suspicious neighbours who thought that we Germans must be spies. We lived only 100 yards from the beach. Some very ‘patriotic’ people would ring the police saying we were sending messages to German submarines and other accusations of this kind.”

— Paul Oestriecher

“…then war started. Though people were nice and friendly to start with, suddenly some of them dropped us… we were enemy aliens. We were not Jewish refugees any more.”

— Margot Phillips

Section

Education KitEducation KitEducation KitEducation Kit Under the Blue Beret






Students will: examine and evaluate the processes through which laws are developed, changed and enforced at local and national level.




Students will: explore the concepts of human and civil rights and evaluate ways in which they are expressed and supported in national and international law and agreements.


Students will: outline and compare different systems of government, analyse their impact on the lives of individuals and groups, and discuss how people exercise their rights and responsibilities to bring about change.


Students will: investigate, consider and present through various media, different concepts of franchise and representation in community, local and national democratic institutions in New Zealand and other countries.


Students will: identify significant groups and leaders who gained positions of relative power and influence over others and describe their value systems, development and impacts.

History

Form 5: Theme 4International Relations, New Zealand’s Search for Security 1945–1985

Form 6: Theme BNationalism, International Relations and the Search for Security,

— the search for security in the nuclear age, 1945–present.

— small power conflict since 1945


Section


Starter ActivityInformation to share:

At San Francisco on 26 June 1945 even before the second world war had ended, the 51 countries of the Allied side signed the Charter of the United Nations. The United Nations became a legal international body on 24 October 1945. As we had been with the League of Nations, New Zealand became a keen supporter of the United Nations. In 1945 our Prime Minister Peter Fraser was wholeheartedly behind the United Nations, and it was his hope that it would support small countries in the international arena when larger countries were using their power to get their own way.

The United Nations has been successful in ensuring no more world wars, but despite intervention there have been ongoing conflicts between and within nations since WWII. Many varied peacekeeping operations have been carried out by the United Nations to assist countries resolve their differences. “Peacekeeping” is in fact an operation of war demanding all the wartime skills of military personnel, and something more.

Activities:Find out about the role of the United Nations. What is written in the UN Charter? Display information for others to read. List some of the major conflicts between or within nations since the end of WWII.

MappingOn a map of the world mark these places where New Zealand has been involved in the United Nations and multi-national peace keeping operations:

Afganistan, Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia, Cyprus, Egypt, Haiti, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kashmir, Kurdistan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mozambique, Namibia, Rhodesia, Sinai, Somalia, Syria, Zaire

The Korean War Information to share:

North Korea’s invasion of South Korea on 24 June 1950 led to the decision by the United Nation’s Security Council to drive the North Korean Peoples’ Army back over the 38 th parallel by force if they did not withdraw voluntarily. The Korean War involved all six frigates in eight completed tours of the New Zealand Navy; some 1350 personnel. By the time the cease fire talks were agreed New Zealand ships had steamed 339,584 miles and fired 71,625 rounds of ammunition.One seaman was killed during Rotoiti’sfirst tour during a raiding party ashore, and naval personnel were awarded seven Distinguished Service Crosses, two Distinguished Service Medals, and one Member of the British Empire.

Ask:What was the reason for the conflict between North and South Korea? Why did the United Nations support South Korea?

Consider other national conflicts where the United Nations have become involved, e.g. Bosnia.

Ask:Why did war break out in Yugoslavia? Who were the main protagonists? What has become the outcome? What was New Zealand’s role in Bosnia?Do you agree or disagree with the continuing involvement of the UN in national conflicts? Give reasons for your views.

PeacekeepingAsk:

What can you do to help solve a dispute?How are disputes settled in your family?

Design a poster for peacekeeping for your family or your class.

Key WordsSort the following list of words into two groups; those which are the role of a peacekeeper, and those which are the role of a soldier. Some of the words may belong to both groups. Find evidence to support your criteria for sorting. Find other words to add to the list, by gathering the views of friends and relatives. Read the quotations on the back cover to find out the views of some of the people who have experienced the role of soldiering or peacekeeping.

negotiate, destroy, occupy, teach,capture, kill, communicate, patrol,evacuate, obey, restructure, fight,plunder, offer support, attack, lead,endure, protect, discipline…

Write a summary sentence about the role of a soldier and a peacekeeper in a war zone.

Land MinesOne of the aftermaths of war is the indiscriminate littering of land mines which go on killing long after hostilities have ended. Our New Zealand engineers were the first mine-clearance specialists to arrive in Cambodia after the UN peace settlement. Being first they developed the training techniques and procedures that have become standard in both the UN Cambodian Action Centre and the Mine Clearance Training Unit. For a country that has so few engineers and so little experience with mine warfare we have become world authorities on teaching de-mining techniques to indigenous people.

The Red Cross and other organisations are campaigning for the end of land mines.Ref. No time to Grow, the Effects of War on Children, New Zealand Red Cross.Find out more about the role of the Red Cross during and after war. If possible arrange to have a speaker visit the class.Encourage students to compile a short list of questions to ask at the end of the session.

DebateHas the United Nations been more or less effective than the League of Nations?

Section


Quotations“A world organisation for peace and security and social and economic justice is a great achievement in cooperation and unity.”

— Peter Fraser, Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1945

The Korean War The Korean War The Korean War The Korean War “I had always been dead keen to get away overseas I had the travel bug. It was the spirit of adventure.I didn’t even know where Korea was.When we left New Zealand we thought it was going to be a great holiday. We more or less expected the Korean War to be finished when we got there.”

— Ian Mackley, 16 Field Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery

“A lot of them had been in J Force, perhaps 20% had been in WWII. The majority had no service experience at all.I was 22… My first impression of Korea was of absolute horror. The city of Pusan was a whole lot of shacks and huts, with ten times its normal population, with refugees pouring in. It was a freezing morning. The cold was the first thing that hit us. We were so poorly equipped.The guys who had been in Italy said it was nothing like as cold as Korea.”

— Ian Mackley, 16 Field Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery

The Korean War The Korean War The Korean War The Korean War “I arrived there just prior to winter. I wasn’t prepared for what it was like. I think the worst we experienced was 40 below. That’s bloody cold. Particularly as you had no form of heat and we weren’t allowed to wear our big parkas if we went outside the wire, out on patrol, because they might get torn.The British cold winter boots were very good. Without them I don’t know what we would have done. I remember at night time in the trenches I used to pull on two sandbags over my boots trying to keep the warmth in. You daren’t touch a piece of metal. The skin would come off your hand. I remember once firing at a target and I had a field telephone with a presser switch and after I had finished with the target I then had to prise each finger back from the phone. It brought tears to my eyes it was so painful.”

— Jack Spiers, New Zealand Infantry attached to 3 rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment“Mines are blind weapons that cannot

distinguish between the footfall of a soldier and that of an old woman gathering firewood. They recognise no ceasefire: long after the fighting has stopped they can maim or kill the children or grandchildren of the soldiers who laid them.”

— Human Rights Watch

“The bridges we build, the wells and accommodation we provide, the roads and airfields we repair, and the minefields we clear, mean that whatever government takes over, the communities of Cambodia will inherit an array of practical improvements and basic infrastructure for reconstructing their nation.”

— Colonel Neil Bradley, Force Engineer, UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia

I was posted as the Duty Operations Officer to Sinai during the period October 1994 to May 1995 as part of New Zealand’s contingent of 25 personnel. My job was to run the MFO Operations Centre which monitored the 31 observation posts and checkpoints throughout Zone C in the Sinai. I would also investigate any alleged violations of the treaty which were reported. My job in Sinai was extremely busy and rewarding. Being posted to Sinai as a peace-keeper meant an awful lot to me. It was a chance to illustrate to the other participating nations the professionalism and dedication of the New Zealand army.

— Captain Karyn Marie Te Moana, RNZ Signals

BosniaBosniaBosniaBosnia “You had to recognise that it wasn’t a case of being the strongest person in town. You job was to be the most tolerant, the most patient, and it was about building relationships. Force wouldn’t work… Our guys washed their uniforms, they brushed their boots, so when they were on checkpoint duty they looked like professionals… The warring factions could look at us and say, ‘Hey, they’re not here for a holiday. We like doing business with them.”

— Lieutenant Colonel Graham Williams, Commanding Officer First New Zealand Contingent

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