Heritage et AL

Music in the First World War played a number of different roles on both the battlefields and back on the home front. On a basic level, music was a good form of entertainment and was a focus for social gatherings. Due to its popular nature, music is able to infiltrate into all aspects of life. During the war, governments quickly saw its potential to inspire a sense of national pride, patriotism , to promote recruitment for soldiers and garner support for fund raising efforts. It was also used as a powerful way to shame conscientious objectors and others who didn't support the war. The catchy melodies and rhythms can therefore be seen as a form of propaganda. Most songs from the First World War period did not reflect the brutal reality of war, instead they suggested that all would be fine and that the war would end soon. Ref: Natasha Barrett, military band at Auckland War Memorial Museum, Anzac Day, 25 April 2010

Māori support for New Zealand’s recruitment effort during the First World War varied. Some tribes volunteered in large numbers but from others there was no response at all. This unevenness reflects the varying impacts of colonialism experienced by different iwi/tribes. Iwi who had suffered land confiscations often rejected calls to participate in the war. Recruitment was greatest among iwi traditionally allied with the British Crown in the various NZ wars fought during the 19th century. These tribes included Ngāpuhi and other far northern tribes, Ngāti Kahungungu, Te Aitanga-a-Mahāki, Te Aitanga-ā-Hauiti and Ngāti Porou from the east coast and Te Arawa from the Bay of Plenty. Kaumatua/elders from these iwi encouraged their youth to volunteer and honour their obligations to citizenship and the Treaty of Waitangi. Ref: AE Watkinson for Auckland Weekly News, Māori troops from Wangauni, 1914,Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19141029-36-4 Young Māori Party...

Updated 18 November 2016 On 23 April earlier this year members of the local Niuean community unveiled a unique war memorial in Mt Roskill’s War Memorial Park. This was the Niue Island World War I Roll of Honour : a polished black granite tablet listing the names of men from Niue Island who served in the New Zealand armed forces during the First World War: 150 men who served in the 3rd Māori Contingent and seven who served in other sections of the NZEF. Why did so many men from a tiny and remote Pacific island volunteer to serve in a war which overtly had little to do with them? Well, New Zealand had annexed both the Cook Islands and Niue in 1901. After war broke out in 1914, many local men from both protectorates were eager to enlist, some of them motivated by patriotism, most of them impelled by a sense of adventure, and the colonial administrators on the spot were keen to facilitate their recruitment. The New Zealand military authorities back home initially welcomed only volun...

  Ref: WWI memorial, Birkenhead, B0314,   North Auckland Research Centre Plans are already underway for the World War I centenary commemorations, which will run from 2014-2018.      Ref: Glen Eden School WWI memorial, JTD-12A-00990-1, West Auckland Research Centre The New Zealand WW100 website, a hub for the commemorations, includes a wealth of information about the formal projects and activities planned by the New Zealand Government, such as the National War Memorial Park in Wellington . It also includes details on how the public and institutions can get involved .