artillery

1916: Armentières and the Battle of the Somme

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  Following the Gallipoli withdrawal, the newly formed New Zealand Division left for France in early April 1916. Sent to the Flanders region to gain front-line experience, they spent the next three months guarding a ‘quiet’ or ‘nursery’ sector of the line at Armentières before moving south to the Somme battlefields and their first large-scale action on the Western Front.

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• Page 1 - The Battle of the SommeFollowing the Gallipoli withdrawal, the newly formed New Zealand Division left for France in early April 1916. Sent to the Flanders region to gain front-line experience, they

New Zealand Field Artillery

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  Overview of the roll of the New Zealand artillery in the First World War

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• Page 2 – New Zealand Field Artillery Brigades

  The New Zealand forces on Gallipoli initially included a single artillery brigade, with a second added in July 1915.

• Page 3 – Ammunition Column

  The work and unit history of the Ammunition columns during the First World war

• Page 4 – Trench Mortar Batteries

  A unit history of the NZEF Trench mortar batteries in the First World War

• Page 5 – Further information - NZ Field Artillery

  Suggestions for further reading relating to the New Zealand Artillery in the First World War

Passchendaele: fighting for Belgium

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  Ever since 1917 Passchendaele has been a byword for the horror of the First World War. The assault on this tiny Belgian village cost the lives of thousands of New Zealand soldiers. But its impact reached far beyond the battlefield, leaving deep scars on many New Zealand communities and families.

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• Page 3 – The Passchendaele offensive

  The failed attempt to capture the town of Passchendaele saw more New Zealanders killed in one day than in any other military campaign since 1840.

NZ's First World War horses

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  Between 1914 and 1916 the New Zealand government acquired more than 10,000 horses to equip the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. They served in German Samoa, Gallipoli, the Middle East and on the Western Front. Of those that survived the war, only four returned home.

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• Page 7 - Western FrontMore than 3000 horses and mules went from Egypt to France with the New Zealand Division in April 1916. Most of these horses had probably come from New Zealand

The Ottoman Empire

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  Few Kiwis today know much about one of our main First World War enemies, the Ottoman Empire - a sophisticated but often forgotten empire whose soldiers fought against New Zealand troops for four years in the Gallipoli, Sinai and Palestine campaigns.

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• Page 13 - Weapons of the Ottoman ArmyThe Ottoman Army went to war in 1914 with significant gaps in its arsenal, particularly in machine guns and field artillery.