The Kiwis are not kidding

New Zealand does not mess around.

Britain, including its Empire countries, entered the war on August 4.

Less than a month later, on August 29, the New Zealanders captured German Samoa.

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/new-zealand-goes-to-war-first-world-war

The National Library of New Zealand has photos here:

http://natlib.govt.nz/items?utf8=%E2%9C%93&il[category]=Images&text=german+samoa

Book news from the New York Times

New Novels on the Way From ‘Schindler’s List’ Author

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

Thomas Keneally, the best-selling author of “Schindler’s List,” will be releasing a new book with a new publisher this summer, Atria Books announced Tuesday.

Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, said it had acquired United States rights to two new novels from Mr. Keneally, who has already published 25. The first, “The Daughter of Mars,” is drawn from actual diaries and is about two sisters from Australia, both nurses, whose lives are transformed by World War I. It is scheduled to come out this August.

The second book will be a novel involving the stories of prisoners of war during World War II, the publisher said.

A Conscientious Objector tries to explain

Here’s a fascinating bit of history — the correspondence between a pacifist and the British Army:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-trench/letter-from-george-dutch-refusing-to-return-to-the-army-october-1916/476076332449232

The Trench has a link to George Dutch’s oral history via the Old Contemptibles Great War Pages. Here’s the link — thank you, Contemptible Pete!

http://www.oldcontemptibles.com/imperial-war-museum-recordings.php

A Canadian nursing sister at rest

Blogger CAMC has a new post about Nursing Sister Margaret Lowe, who was born in Scotland, enlisted in Canada and eventually posted to the 1st Canadian General Hospital in France. She was mortally wounded in a German air attack and died May 28, 1918 at the age of 30. Here’s a photo from her funeral of nurses passing the cemetery in Etaples where she was buried.

 

And here’s the link:
http://camc.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/nursing-sister-margaret-lowe/

“A Boy Fighting a Man’s War”

“Ralph” a short film currently under production, is raising money — for a donation of £100, the producers will name a character after you. You won’t get that offer from “Downton Abbey.”

Ralph was a miner who enlisted in 1914, when he was not quite 15.

Here’s the Facebook description of the project:

Ralph is a Docu-drama World War One short film based on the true story of Ralph Howells, with an astounding account from the trenches. Check out the ways you can help in our latest posts!

With your support we aim to not just make this a final year film, but a contender for festivals across the country, to bring awareness to what life in the trenches was really like and how it affected the communities the soldiers left behind.

And here’s the movie’s website: http://ralphfilm.wix.com/ralphfilm

 

Over there, over there

The WW1HA is going to the battlefields again in May.

Come with me.

The tour will begin May 25 in Brussels and go to the fortress city of Liege, where brave little Belgium’s army held up the German advance for 12 days at the beginning of the war.

The group will move on to the Vosges Mountains in Alsace, to visit the Le Linge battlefield and museum, full of artifacts. More than 2 miles of trenches and fortifications are still in place. On to Hartmannswillerkopf and its incredible views — at nearly 1,000 meters above sea level — and memorials. The American Ambulance Services worked here.

Then to Verdun, the St. Mihiel Salient, Belleau Wood, Le Hamel — where American troops fought alongside Australians on July 4, 1918 — and a full day of exploring around Ypres, concluding with the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate.

To walk where they walked, to stand on the ground they fought so hard for is incredibly humbling.

To raise a glass to them while chomping frites — the best fries/chips you will ever eat — with the possibility of chocolate croissants for breakfast is incredibly fun.

Come on. I’ll meet you in Brussels and buy you a beer.

http://ww1ha.org/pdf/Battlefield-Tour-2013-Itinerary.pdf

http://www.examiner.com/article/french-world-war-i-trenches-of-le-linge-alsace

http://www.haute-alsacetourisme.com/en/sites-incontournables/hartmannswillerkopf-4.html

http://www.en.verdun-tourisme.com/

http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/stmihiel.htm

http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b4/belleau_wood.htm

http://www.dva.gov.au/commems_oawg/OAWG/war_memorials/overseas_memorials/france/Documents/Battle_Le_Hamel.pdf

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/battles-ypres-salient.htm

http://www.visitbelgium.com/?page=beer-lovers

 

Commander in Chief

Blogger Blindfold and Alone has a stinging new post today, innocuously titled “Incomplete Files”:

http://blindfoldandalone.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/incomplete-files/