WW100 – New Zealand's First World War Centenary Programme ran from 2014 to 2019

Please note this site has been archived

NZ'S FIRST WORLD WAR CENTENARY 2014–2019

What is it?

Not all of our First World War memorials were built on New Zealand soil after the war. In 1919 the government began a project to build memorials halfway around the world on the very battlefields where New Zealanders had fought.

New Zealand's official war photographer was on the ground during the last major action by the New Zealanders in the Great War. See how he captured the Battle of Le Quesnoy of 4 November 1918.

What does a small knotted horse-hair watch-guard tell us about the experience of conscientious objectors in Paparua Prison during the First World War?

Te Papa curator and historian Kirstie Ross uncovers a collection of photographic portraits of First World War soldiers – a forgotten building block in the evolution of New Zealand’s war remembrance.

From weapon to domestic ware – what does this trench-art pitcher tell us about the First World War experience of Cook Islands soldier Terekia Taura?

Curator and historian Kirstie Ross shares the story of two New Zealand nurses whose work with the French Flag Nursing Corps during the First World War is commemorated in Te Papa’s history collections.

Seán Brosnahan – Curator at Toitū – recounts the story of the 100 year journey around the world of a dog tag belonging to Reinhold Fätsch, who went missing during the 1916 Battle of the Somme.

We look at several objects related to the Sinai Campaign to see how it differed from New Zealanders' experiences at Gallipoli and the Western Front.

Following a mammoth fundraising effort, Joyce McKelvie was crowned Queen of the Rangītikei in an elaborate ceremony at Marton's town hall in September 1915.

During the Battle of Jutland in 1916, Captain John Green stood on the bridge of HMS New Zealand wearing a piupiu and hei tiki. These two items became good luck charms, credited with seeing the ship safely through the First World War’s largest naval battle.

Human History Educator Georgia Brockhurst shows how collection items from Auckland War Memorial Museum offer a unique insight into the everyday life of the soldier at Gallipoli.

Private Robert Steele's image from Gaba Tepe – published in the Auckland Weekly News on 24 June 1915 – gave the New Zealand public their first glimpse of the Gallipoli Campaign.

Personnel records give us detailed administrative information about those who served in the First World War.