Events In History
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10 July 1985Rainbow Warrior sunk by French secret agents
A crew member died when French secret agents mined the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior in Waitematā Harbour, Auckland. Read more...
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28 June 1973HMNZS Otago sails for Mururoa test zone
Prime Minister Norman Kirk told the 242 crew of HMNZS Otago that their Mururoa mission was an ‘honourable’ one – they were to be a ‘silent accusing witness with the power to bring alive the conscience of the world’. Read more...
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23 June 1973World Court condemns French nuclear tests
The ruling by the International Court of Justice was part of New Zealand's long campaign to end French nuclear testing in the Pacific. The French ignored the court's injunction to cease testing. Read more...
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11 April 1916New Zealand Division arrives in France
The Minnewaska, a troopship carrying the headquarters of the recently formed New Zealand Division, arrived in Marseilles, France Read more...
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10 August 1840British proclaim sovereignty as French head for Akaroa
HMS Britomart arrived at Akaroa, on Banks Peninsula, a week before a shipload of French colonists landed there. The Britomart's captain raised the Union Jack to confirm the British claim to sovereignty over the area. Read more...

A French bishop living amongst hostile British settlers in New Zealand, Pompallier was sympathetic to Māori concerns, and for his time had an enlightened view towards Māori.
Read more...Articles
New Zealand and Le Quesnoy
It was the New Zealand Division's final action of the First World War. On 4 November 1918, just a week before the Armistice was signed, New Zealand troops stormed the walled French town of Le Quesnoy. The 90 men killed were among the last of the 12,483 who fell on the Western Front.
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Page 2 – The liberation of Le Quesnoy
The capture of the French town of Le Quesnoy by the New Zealand Division on 4 November 1918 has special significance in New Zealand's military history.
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Page 3 – Visiting Le Quesnoy
Just 4 kilometres east of Beaudignies in northern France is Le Quesnoy. This town was in German hands for almost all of the First World War, from August 1914, until the New
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Page 4 – Battle accounts, Lieutenant Averill
Leslie Cecil Lloyd Averill is best remembered for his exploits during the liberation of Le Quesnoy on 4 November 1918.
Allies
The military alliance that fought against the Central Powers was known as the Allies. Initially this alliance was based around the four great powers of Russia, France, Japan and the British Empire, along with the smaller states of Serbia, Montenegro and Belgium that also went to war in 1914.
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Page 4 – Republic of France
Key information and statistics about the Republic of France during the First World War
D-Day
It was one of the largest amphibious landings in history. On 6 June 1944 a huge Allied military machine embarked on the invasion of German-occupied France. Thousands of New Zealand sailors and airmen were on active duty that day.
- Page 9 - The French ResistanceMembers of the French Resistance risked their lives in helping New Zealanders to
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