Blood and Mud

An additional excellent educational resource has been created for use in schools, teachers have our full permission to use the website. The Passchendaele Society has obtained the rights to the website and we continue to improve and enhance. The website was originally created by a team comprising of Dylan Woodhouse, Tony Wu, Lucy Tustin and Connor Harrigen from St Paul’s Collegiate in Hamilton who went on to be joint winners of the Passchendaele Centennial Competition for New Zealand Schools (2017). Schools, teachers and students are invited to utilize this resource by linking it with other areas in the social sciences curriculum to answer questions such as “Examine how a significant historical event affected New Zealand society” from a recent New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Level 2 History paper.

Stand To

As part of a school project a Year 13 student by the name of Dylan Woodhouse created a video called Stand To that tells the story of Roy Cunliffe, an ordinary soldier from Wellington. Dylan then had the wonderful experience of looking for this soldier’s final resting spot in Polygon Wood British Cemetery, Flanders, Belgium. He also planted a tree in the Wood of Peace in his memory. “I found it very satisfying to trial this resource with Year 9 students and dispel some of the myths surrounding World War 1 and help enthuse them to adopt an ANZAC and learn their story. By getting our young people to look at the life of a randomly chosen ANZAC, they quickly learned that all those that died in the war were more than figures and statistics, they left widowed wives and broken communities”.

New Zealand History online.
Nga korero a ipurangi o Aotearoa.

Gain an understanding of the politics and the battles of the First World War.

Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara - The encyclopaedia of New Zealand is the complete guide to our peoples, environment, history, culture and society.

New Zealand Electronic Text Centre

World War One Official Campaign Histories.

In Flanders Fields Museum 1917

Presents the story of the First World War in the West Flanders front region. It is located in the renovated Cloth Halls of Ypres, the website includes educational activities, research centre and casualty lists.

The Belgians have not forgotten

An interesting blog to follow.

100 NZ WW1 Memorials 1914-2014

Information from 100 New Zealand World War One memorials throughout New Zealand.

Photos of the Great War

World war one image archive.

Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Cenotaph database

The best place to start if you are trying to find a relative who may have served in the First World War. The database has over 115,000 New Zealand service men and women and covers the whole of the 19th century and especially the World Wars, One and Two. Entries will give you information of the Military Unit, rank, when they left for overseas, their enlistment address and next of kin. If they died the date, place and cause of death will be listed.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission 

A register that records details of Commonwealth war dead so that graves or memorials can be located. Their entries give date of death, age, Regiment, the memorial or grave site – there is often a photograph of the cemetery or memorial. There can be additional information for example the name and address of the next of kin.

Archives New Zealand 

Once you have found your relative you can apply to have their Military Personnel record digitised and downloaded to the Archway database. There may be a charge for this service. The records usually give full details of their war history including their medical records and a physical description. Archives also provide access to a selection of  “Fatal Casualty Forms (AABK 519)” for nearly 700 New Zealand military personnel who died in the Ypres-Passchendaele sector (Flanders, Belgium) during 1917 and early 1918.

Papers Past

Old newspapers are being scanned and added to this database – the Auckland Star now covers the First World War period and provides a fascinating insight into how the First World War was perceived at the time, the casualty lists are heart-breaking.