New Zealand Books > NZ Military

The 'war on terror' in Afghanistan and beyond has been the longest foreign war in New Zealand history, yet most New Zealanders know almost nothing about their country's part in it. For ten years, nearly everything controversial or potentially unpopular was kept secret, and obscured by a steady flow of military public relations stories. Based on thousands of leaked New Zealand military and intelligence documents, extensive interviews with military and intelligence officers and eye-witness accounts from the soldiers on the ground, Ni... read more

Citizen soldiering has been part of our history since the first years of colonial settlement. From the early militias set up in the 1830s, primarily for internal security, right up to the current day, everyday men and women have been trained and ready to serve in the Boer War, the Great War, World War II and many other military engagements. The shape and purpose of the volunteer and territorial armies has changed over the years, but is marked throughout by bravery, adventure and initiative. This extensive and authoritative history ... read more

Corporal Willie Apiata became the first New Zealander since the Second World War to be awarded the Commonwealth's highest military award for his actions with the NZ SAS in Afghanistan. From his early life in small town East Coast New Zealand to his actions in the deserts of Afghanistan, this is his story in his words. This book will not only establish the place of Corporal Apiata in New Zealand's history but will give an insight into the nature of a man who is truly a reluctant hero. While to most of us his actions seemed extraordi... read more

A story based on fact of a Kiwi lad as he heads away, full of excitement, to war with his mates from rural New Zealand. There he encounters the horror that was the Western front. This is primarily based on the diary of Matt's Grandfather, and postcards he had sent home to the family. It also draws on published histories of the Kiwi military in WW1. The book aims to capture what the new experiences of war were like for the young soldiers, and succeeds superbly.

The Gallipoli campaign looms large in New Zealand's cultural memory. For the first time in this book, historian Glyn Harper tells the story of the campaign in the words of the New Zealand soldiers who were there.Having worked through archives in New Zealand and overseas, combed newspapers, and conducted a national call-out to descendents of Gallipoli soldiers, Harper has assembled over 500 letters home, of which 150 will be included in this book, most of them never previously published. After a thorough introduction to New Zealand'... read more

Twelve thousand New Zealand men and women served in the occupation of Japan immediately after the Second World War. This book records memories from those we know as 'J Force'. Based on revealing interviews with soldiers, airmen, nurses and members of the New Zealand Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, The Occupiers explores Kiwi life in the former enemy territory between 1946 and 1948. Veterans recall the horror of witnessing the devastated city of Hiroshima. They describe their culture shock and adjustment to unfamiliar customs. And the... read more

The New Zealand Wars of the 1840s and 1860s, other nineteenth-century military encounters, the South African War, the First and Second World Wars, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, the Gulf War, modern-day peacekeeping ...The Penguin Book of New Zealanders at War contains the best, widest range of published and non-published written material on our people in warfare. This is a soldier's book - thus letters, diaries, journalists' reports, memoirs. The focus is on actual experience and on human responses to war. A vast array of personal experi... read more

Captures the thrill and excitement of the 4-day airshow. Spectacular aircraft come from all over the world to perform amazing aerial feats at one of the world's largest historical airshows. First published October 2008.

The Gallipoli campaign of 1915 destroyed New Zealand's fantasies of war as a glorious schoolboy adventure on behalf of a beloved Empire. The Western Front campaign that followed in 1916-18 gave shape to the emotional impact. It was a horror world of death and mud that destroyed the souls of the young men who fought in it. Together, these two campaigns shaped the lives of a generation of New Zealanders and have given a particular meaning to modern memory of war. In Shattered Glory, highly regarded historian Matthew Wright illuminate... read more

In the 1930s and 1940s growing up in a family of privilege and wealth was not a precursor to a life of self-indulgence. It meant, instead, a life with more noble and self-sacrificing aims − a life of duty to society, to God and the ideals of the British Empire. This was the world that Peter Russell Hay Allen was born into, and these values ruled his life, sending him to war in foreign lands and ultimately to his death. Wartime Correspondence chronicles Peter’s life in the Royal... read more

The true story of a courageous Gisborne farmer who won two of New Zealand's highest awards for civilian gallantry in World War II.

The biannual Warbirds over Wanaka airshow attracts up to 100,000 visitors every two years. An idea originated by pioneer Tim Wallis, the show is world-renowned and as a consequence attracts pilots and their aircraft and visitors with an interest in aviation, military history, machinery of old from all over the world.This book is the official record of the events at the show, both those on the ground and in the air. The photographers are experienced in their chosen fields, whether it be photographing aircraft on the ground, in the a... read more

In mid-winter 1944, massive infantry losses were incurred at Cassino, in the town and hills above it, as the Allies fought vainly to batter their way through heavily fortified positions to advance on Rome. What is not widely known is that a golden opportunity was created by Kiwi and Indian engineers to outflank Cassino through the construction of a road carved high up into the hills to the north of the German encampment. A surprise attack by 15 Kiwi Sherman tanks on 19 March saw the capture of Albaneta, a key German stronghold and ... read more

This Volume is the Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War and was originally published in 1955 by the Department of Internal Affairs, Government of New Zealand. This is a reprint of that original title, which was printed in the United States of America 1993 with in a contractual arrangement between Internal Affairs Department of New Zealand and The Battery Press Incorporated, Nashville, Tennessee 37219 United States of America. The book relates the development of service aviation in New Zealand from its beginnings... read more

In the late 1990s Bill Leadley's granddaughter, Jan Chamberlin, spent many months researching her family archives in order to be able to put her grandfather's diary covering the ANZAC landing on Gallipoli in context. Shrapnel & Semaphore is the result and it is an amazing story of courage, faith and service based on a series of diary entries written by Lance-Corporal Walter Edmund (Bill) Leadley covering the period 25 April 1915 through to 8 December, and from 25 March 1916 to 9 September prior to serving at The Somme where he ... read more

Taranaki Rifle volunteers & the Taranaki War There stood.....a ragtag bunch of ordinary men and boys - inexperianced but enthusiastic to defend their new homes. Shoulder to shoulder they fought to defend the New Plymouth settlement against the increasingly hostile and growing force of Maori, incensed at the 'purchase' of the Waitara block.

Soldier, Sailor and Airman Too is a comprehensive history of the life and career of Group Captain A.B. Woodhall. His story provides a unique slice of British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Airforce history, spanning both World Wars and finishing in New Zealand. Not only can his story be read as a biography of an extremely accomplished and heroic figure, this book also provides an extensive historical insight into the myriad events he was involved in over this period of time. From beginnings that would be enough to deter most - being se... read more

Dop October 2008, Auckland 336pp 234mmx153mm cased with jacket Published in conjunction with the Defence Force these diaries are widely regarded as one of the most important personal sources related to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Hart was a much decorated brigadair general and from the time he left Carterton in 1914 to the time he returned in 1918 he kept extensive personal diaries that cover huge campaigns such as Somme, Passchendale and Gallipoi.

This Volume is the Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War and was originally published in 1957 by the Government of New Zealand, through the Department of Internal Affairs.
This is a reprint of that original title, which was printed in the United States of America 1998 with in a contractual arrangement between Internal Affairs Department of New Zealand and The Battery Press Incorporated, Nashville, Tennessee 37219 United States of America, and in association with The Imperial War Museum, London. The book i... read more

This book marks the 75th anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. It traces the broad sweep of the air force from the early twentieth century to the first decade of the 21st, and extends beyond the romance of early military aviation and the drama of World War Two to describe the diversity of roles it has undertaken in recent decades. This account begins in 1909 with the gift of a Bl riot plane to New Zealand in response to the first awareness of the potential of military air power. Early experiments in flying were followed b... read more