McLeods Booksellers

Gallipoli to the Somme: Recollections of a New Zealand Infantryman by Alexander C. Aitken; Alex Calder (Editor)

$39.99 NZD

Category: NZ Military

Alexander Aitken was an ordinary soldier with an extraordinary mind. The student who enlisted in 1915 was a mathematical genius who could multiply nine-digit numbers in his head. He took a violin with him to Gallipoli (where field telephone wire substituted for an E-string) and practiced Bach on the Wes tern Front. Aitken also loved poetry and knew The Aeneid and Paradise Lost by heart. Aitken began to write about his experiences in 1917 as a wounded out-patient in Dunedin Hospital. He writes with a unique combination of restraint, subtlety, and an almost photographic vividness. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society of Literature on the strength of this single work--a book recognized by its first reviewers as a literary memoir of the Great War to put alongside those by Graves, Blunden, and Sassoon. Long out of print, this is by some distance the most perceptive memoir of the First World War by a New Zealand soldier. For this edition, Alex Calder has written a new introduction, annotated the text, compiled a selection of images, and added a commemorative index identifying the soldiers with whom Aitken served. ...Show more

Fearless: The Extraordinary Untold Story of New Zealand's Great War Airmen by Adam Claasen

$59.99 NZD

Category: NZ Military

More than 1000 New Zealanders served in the Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force. Several, including Sir Keith Park, later became senior air commanders of the Second World War. Among them were leading air aces, including Keith Caldwell, Ronald Bannerman and the famous ten nis player Anthony Wilding. A special type of New Zealander who craved risk and adventure, and who loved speed and engines, they went up in tiny, fragile aircraft to face enormous danger. If they survived their training -- and many did not -- then they had to survive encountering the German air aces. Historian Adam Claasen tells their fascinating and little-known story, and explains how their courage enabled military aviation to develop. ...Show more

ANZAC Battlefield: A Gallipoli Landscape of War and Memory by Antonio Sagona (Editor); Richard Reid (Editor); Mithat Atabay (Editor); C. J. Mackie (Editor); Ian McGibbon (Editor)

$76.99 NZD

Category: NZ Military

Anzac Battlefield: A Gallipoli Landscape of War and Memory explores the transformation of Gallipoli's landscape in antiquity, during the famed battles of the First World War and in the present day. Drawing on archival, archaeological and cartographic material, this book unearths the deep history of the Gallipoli peninsula, setting the Gallipoli campaign in a broader cultural and historical context. The book presents the results of an original archaeological survey, the research for which was supported by the Australian, New Zealand and Turkish Governments. The survey examines materials from both sides of the battlefield, and sheds new light on the environment in which Anzac and Turkish soldiers endured the conflict. Richly illustrated with both Ottoman and Anzac archival images and maps, as well as original maps and photographs of the landscape and archaeological findings, Anzac Battlefield is an important contribution to our understanding of Gallipoli and its landscape of war and memory. ...Show more

From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The New Zealand Division on the Western Front 1916-1918 : a History and Guide to Its Battlefields by John H. Gray

$33.99 NZD

Category: NZ Military | Reading Level: New

The New Zealand Division's campaign in France and Flanders was the birth of the modern New Zealand Army. At Armentieres, First Somme 1916, Messines and Third Ypres 1917 it established a high reputation. This was enhanced in its great encounter battle when it closed a gap in the British Line on the Ancre in Second Somme, during the German Spring Offensive in March 1918. Following this, it was in the vanguard of the final Advance to Victory in the Last Hundred Days, culminating in its heroic, medieval Relief of Le Quesnoy in the Battle of the Sambre, at war's end. This story tells of national sacrifice. 13,647 New Zealanders died within the Division's ranks in two and a half years; more than in all three Armed Services combined in the six years of World War II. The book demonstrates that casualties were consistently under-reported in Stewart. The campaign in France and Belgian Flanders has long lingered in the shadow of Gallipoli's legendary status. The author lightens that shadow in arguing convincingly that the Western Front was much more significant militarily and historically, and deserves at least equal prominence in New Zealand's national consciousness. This was one of his aims in writing the book. The Western Front campaign was the only occasion in New Zealand's military history when its Division contributed to the defeat of the main army of the main enemy, in the main theatre of war. The foreword is by Dr Christopher Pugsley, New Zealand's pre-eminent authority on the Great War. ...Show more

Brothers in Arms: Gordon & Robin Harper in the Great War by Jock Phillips

$19.99 NZD

Category: NZ Military

A powerful and beautifully-illustrated story of two New Zealand brothers at Gallipoli and the Sinai Desert. Bringing together original letters, stunning photographs and extraordinary objects sent back from the front, Brothers in Arms evokes the experience of the Great War in a uniquely moving and access ible way. ...Show more

Le Quesnoy 1918 by Christopher Pugsley

$39.99 NZD

Category: NZ Military

The New Zealand Division's capture of the French town of Le Quesnoy was its last and most successful action in the First World War. Breaking through defensive lines and scaling the town walls by ladder, the New Zealanders overwhelmed the defenders, freeing the town after years of German occupation. It w as a victory that resounded around the world, and helped convince German high command they could no longer hold the front. Based on his intimate knowledge of the landscape and those involved, Christopher Pugsley puts together the story with his mastery of drama and detail - producing a book that is thrilling at the same time as a tribute to the New Zealanders who died (and whose details are fully recorded here for the first time). Strikingly illustrated with maps, photographs and the stunning paintings of the battle by George Butler, Le Quesnoy 1918 will be an inspiring read for this summer and many seasons beyond. ...Show more

With Them Through Hell: New Zealand Medical Services in the First World War by Anna Rogers

$65.00 NZD

Category: NZ Military

The thousands of New Zealand men who fought in the First World War went through hell. And right beside them was another fighting force, armed with scalpels, bandages and drugs. Hundreds of doctors, nurses, stretcher-bearers, orderlies and ambulance drivers,dentists, chiropodists, pharmacists, phys iotherapists and chaplains cared for the sick and wounded, often at great personal risk. Veterinarians did the same for horses, camels and other animals. The challenges were enormous - horrific injuries, gas and deadly diseases, especially the influenza of 1918. There were some astonishing successes - most famously by plastic surgery pioneers Harold Gillies and Henry Pickerill - but the price was high, for patients and carers. The skilled, compassionate and courageous New Zealand medical personnel of the Great War have not always received the attention they deserve. Anna Rogers tells their remarkable story. ...Show more

Cheerio for the Present - A New Zealand Soldier's Life in World War II by Jim Edwards; Cecilia Edwards

$39.99 NZD

Category: NZ Military

Bravo Kiwi by Craig Wilson

$39.99 NZD

Category: NZ Military

Major Craig Wilson is a decorated former SAS member, and has been in more combat zones than any other Kiwi soldier. He was the commanding officer of Bravo Company, which lost 2 soldiers when they went to the aid Afghan police at Baghek in August 2012. Craig was left injured, shot in the shoulder, and wa s Medevac'd to a German hospital. There he heard 3 more of his team had died in an explosion. This is the story of Craig Wilson and the men and women of Bravo Company. It starts in 2010 at Burnham army base and includes infantry preparations for; Christchurch earthquake; planning for Afghanistan; life in Bamiyan; the battle at Baghek and its aftermath. ...Show more

Flies, Sand and Unwashed Socks - Letters from WWII: New Zealand Expeditionary Force 1940-1943 by R. G. Harris; Susan Cambridge

$35.00 NZD

Category: NZ Military

Letters from WWII New Zealand Expeditionary Force 1940-1943 R.G. (Dick) Harris These letters are from Egypt, Greece, Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Italy: Dick Harris travelled huge distances in North Africa, the Middle East and Southern Europe. For more than three years he lived with bombing from the air and s helling fro the ground. He manoeuvred guns and ammunition, lived in slit trenches and tents, talked with people from other cultures, and learned the skills of radio operation. He was a quiet gentle person who liked his own company, read widely, enjoyed writing and painting. World War II brought adventure, exploration, companionship, challenges, hardship and loss. It changed his life forever. This is his story, told in his own words, and the story of many New Zealanders who set out to defeat tyranny and make the world a better place. ...Show more

Army Fundamentals: From Making Soldiers to the Limits of the Military Instrument by Bethan Greener

$45.00 NZD

Category: NZ Military | Reading Level: Near Fine

How does an Army recruit attain an identity with soldierhood? What do they give up and what do they gain? What happens when a young officer, indoctrinated in a military way of thinking, is thrust into the academic, free-thinking environment of a university? When military units are deployed in insecure e nvironments to enhance security and governance while facilitating reconstruction and development, what separates the humanitarian from the soldier? And are the roles in fact compatible? The New Zealand Army is facing challenges in recruiting and retaining women - how does the Anzac legend and national identity contribute to that? Can a modern warrior be a woman? Do NZDF personnel on deployment really 'punch above their weight' or is this a myth? What happens when our forces overseas move into policing? All these major issues are addressed in this fascinating and compelling book, in which expert authors delve deep into New Zealand's modern-day Army.As the foreword notes,this book delves 'into some of the seemingly idiosyncratic aspects of the New Zealand Army's culture, value system, enculturation practices and operational learning with vignettes, case studies, and observations that help explain military purpose, action and effect. It shows how the New Zealand Army's traditions, practices and values seek to fit its members to cope, survive and succeed in contemporary operational settings.' ...Show more

Heroes of Gallipoli by Richard Stowers

$75.00 NZD

Category: NZ Military

With the centenary of the First World War upon us in 2015, Richard Stowers has written this book to increase the awareness of the unpretentious gallantry and service by New Zealanders during the Gallipoli campaign. The book details the bravery and distinguished service of men and women of the 1st echelo n of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the Gallipoli campaign. In some ways those listed in the book were the lucky ones whose courage was officially recognised. Many more who did heroic acts were not so fortunate, and their actions were never officially recognised due to the fortunes of war. Often overshadowed by the exploits of the Australians who were awarded nine Victoria Crosses during the Gallipoli campaign, time and time again the New Zealanders were denied gallantry medals by their high command. New Zealand can be rightly proud of these men and women who did extraordinary deeds during times of danger, hardship and peril. ...Show more