This presentation will focus on the relationship between New
Zealand and its wartime allies on the Western Front. It will examine the
connections between New Zealand troops and those of the French and Belgian
armies in the field. Unlike at Gallipoli, New Zealand troops fought among
civilians on the Western Front. Whether in billets, relaxing in estaminets,
enjoying leave in Paris or seeking female company, they interacted with French
and Belgians for nearly three years. They also observed them going about their
business and formed impressions about their culture.
Due for publication this week, New Zealand’s
Western Front Campaign is the first major account of New Zealand’s whole
Western Front campaign since the publication of the official history in 1921.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ian McGibbon was formerly General Editor (War History) at the
Ministry for Culture and Heritage. He has published extensively on New
Zealand’s war history, including the two-volume official history of New
Zealand’s involvement in the Korean War and the official history of combat
operations in the Vietnam War. He edited the Oxford Companion to New Zealand
Military History (2000) and is the author of battlefield guides to both the
Western Front and Gallipoli. He was New Zealand’s representative on the tri-nation
historical and archaeological survey of the Anzac battlefield at Gallipoli
2009-2014. Since 1981 he has edited the New Zealand Institute of International
Affairs’ journal New Zealand International Review. He was made an officer of
the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to historical research in
1997.
VENUE: Please join us tomorrow, 7 September in the MBIE Building
(formerly the Defence Building) on Stout Street - up the steps by the HOME Café
signage. You will be directed to a meeting room on the ground floor and
the talk will commence promptly at 12.15pm.
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