pacific war | NZHistory, New Zealand history online

RNZAF No.10 Servicing Unit engineers repairing a plane's engine.

Film footage of US forces stationed in New Zealand during the Second World War

NZ Fighter Wing scoreboard, 1943

The New Zealand Fighter Wing scoreboard at New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, November 1943

The Leander was hit just abaft the ‘A’ boiler room. Four hundred and ninety kilograms of high explosive killed everyone in that boiler room and the blast, venting up through the boiler room duct, also blew eight men from the No.1 102 mm mount over the side, where any survivors drowned.

Coconut chess set

A wooden carved 32 piece chess set encased in a coconut shell handmade by Lieutenant Lancelot Hugh Herd while a prisoner of war in Changi Prison, Singapore.

Japanese army officer's sword

A Japanese Army Officers Shin Gunto sword belonging to Captain D.B Smith.

Private Hunt, the parakeet mascot

The Solomons Island parakeet Private Hunt, mascot for 37 New Zealand Infantry Batalltion, 3 New Zealand Division in the Pacific, poses with his trainer.

The final stages - New Zealanders in the Pacific War

Once the tide had turned in favour of the United States and its allies, American troops began 'island hopping' through the central Pacific, taking one island after another. Japanese naval power was destroyed in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in October 1944, and invasions of Okinawa and Iwo Jima followed.

Changing fortunes - New Zealanders in the Pacific War

In 1942 the Battle of the Coral Sea (7-8 May) and Battle of Midway (3-6 June) between the Japanese and United States navies left the United States with superior numbers of essential aircraft carriers.

NZ troops make first opposed landing since Gallipoli

New Zealanders from 8 Brigade, 3rd New Zealand Division, helped their American allies seize control of Mono in the Solomon Islands. Forty New Zealanders lost their lives in weeks of fierce fighting against the island's Japanese defenders.

New Zealanders in the Pacific War

Thousands of New Zealanders fought in the Pacific War, which was sparked by the Japanese bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. It was a conflict fought on a vast scale over huge distances. For the New Zealanders, this was a war fought close to home.

Sound: Harry Bioletti describes the war in the Pacific

Hear Harry Bioletti talk about his experiences in the Pacific war

Sound: Noel Rosoman describes the war in the Pacific

Hear Noel Rosoman talk about his experiences in the Pacific war

Sound: John McKay describes the war in the Pacific

Hear John McKay talk about his experiences during the Second World War

Sound: Peter Renshaw describes the war in the Pacific

Hear Peter Renshaw talk about his experiences in the war in the Pacific during the Second World War

Army truck on Nissan Island

Dense jungle on Nissan Island

Loading anti-aircraft guns during war in the Pacific

Placing a drum of ammunition in one of HMS Leander's anti-aircraft guns