NZHistory, New Zealand history online - war objects

tags:

ottoman empire

Lewis light machine gun

The Lewis Gun was an American-designed light machine gun used by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade in Sinai and Palestine between July 1916 and March 1917.

Gas-operated and air-cooled, the Lewis Gun fired .303 inch rounds from a 47-round drum magazine. It had a firing rate of 600 rounds per minute and was effective to a range of about 750 m.

Credit:

Auckland War Memorial Museum
Reference: W1492
Permission of the Auckland War Memorial Museum must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

tags:

new zealand mounted rifles

palestine campaign

sinai campaign

weapons

Hotchkiss light machine gun

Hotchkiss M1909 light machine gun.

The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade was equipped with Hotchkiss light machine guns after the First Battle of Gaza, March 1917. Each mounted squadron (160 men) received four Hotchkiss guns in place of the single Lewis machine gun they had been equipped with previously.

The French designed Hotchkiss gun was light, durable, and easy to operate. It fired .303-inch rounds from a 10-round metal strip which was carried in a bandolier. The gun, a spare barrel and 900 rounds could be transported on a single packhorse. Two ammunition packhorses travelled with every mounted squadron, each carrying 2400 rounds.

Credit:

Auckland War Memorial Museum
Reference: W1494
Permission of the Auckland War Memorial Museum must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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Ottoman War Medal

German-made version of the Ottoman War Medal, often mistakenly referred to as the 'Gallipoli Star' by Anzac and British troops. These medals were highly sought-after battlefield 'souvenirs' amongst New Zealand and Australian troopers in the Sinai and Palestine. They were taken from dead or captured Ottoman soldiers whenever they were found on them.

The Ottoman War Medal was a gallantry decoration officially instituted by order of the Sultan on 1 March 1915. In the centre of the badge inside the crescent is the cypher of Sultan Mehmed V and characters representing the words, 'The Victorious'. Below this is the Muslim calendar date 1333 - equivalent to the year 1915 in the western Gregorian calendar. It was awarded for distinguished war service and officers and enlisted personnel from both the Ottoman Army and Navy were eligible to receive it. Military personnel from the Ottoman Empire's wartime allies, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, could also be awarded it.

New Zealand and Australian troops didn't really become aware of the award's existence until after the fighting at Gallipoli had ended as it was only in the Sinai and Palestine campaigns that they encountered large numbers of Ottoman prisoners of war. This, together with the '1915' date on the badge appears to have led the Anzacs to conclude (incorrectly) that it was somehow connected to the Gallipoli campaign (it wasn't).

Although the medal was officially issued as a single class of award there were some variations in its manufacture with zinc, iron and other base metals all being used by different producers. There was also enormous variation in the quality of the red enamel used. To add to the mix hand-crafted high quality versions using silver metal were made by jewellers for private purchase by officers not content with a mass-produced badge.

Credit:

Private collection

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South African War medal

The back of a 1900 medal commemorating the early part of the South African War. The edge of the medal reads 'Success to New Zealand Contingent 1899-1900'.

The flag depicted is the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, chosen by northern Maori in 1834. (The current New Zealand Flag became our official flag in 1902.)

The front of the medal shows a portrait of Queen Victoria.

The use of the United Tribes flag design on the back of this medal, which was presented to a soldier of the South African War, suggests that before the current flag was instituted, the United Tribes flag may also have been used to represent a distinct New Zealand identity, separate from that of the British Empire and Union Jack.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
James Laurenson Collection
Reference: Curios-003-025-recto
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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HMS Achilles cigarette case

Chrome-plated cigarette case engraved on the lid with 'A. D. K. [Kennedy] HMS ACHILLES 1940'.

Credit:

Image courtesy Royal New Zealand Navy Museum,
Reference: GSC 0013
Permission of the Royal New Zealand Navy Museum must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

tags:

battle of the river plate

hms achilles

Camel Transport Corps badge

A brass hat badge belonging to the Camel Transport Corps. The badge is in the form of a large leaf with 'CTC' voided in the centre.

From the earliest days of the First World War camels played a role in the logistics chain supplying British field forces in Egypt but this support was initially on an ad hoc basis using local Egyptian camel handlers hired on civilian contracts. The use of camels was placed on a much more formal footing with the formation of the Camel Transport Corps in December 1915.

This was a regular British Army unit made up of locally recruited Egyptian camel handlers subject to military discipline and under the command of British officers and NCOs. It was organized into companies each of which comprised 2000 camels and some 1,100 Egyptian handlers to manage them. Although the new corps was formed with an initial strength of ten companies more were added as the war went on.

The camel transport companies usually made up the final leg of a logistics chain that saw ammunition and other supplies moved from ship to railway to a forward supply depot out in the desert, at which point the camels would take over and deliver them to the troops in the field. In this capacity the Camel Transport Corps played a vital part in the ultimately successful British campaigns against the Ottoman Turks in both the Sinai and Palestine, however this Corps and its work should not be confused with the Imperial Camel Corps.

Credit:

Image courtesy National Army Museum Te Mata Toa
Accession Number: 1982.89
Permission of the National Army Museum Te Mata Toa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

tags:

camel corps

New Zealand Imperial Camel Corps hat badge

This is an unofficial First World War bronze New Zealand Imperial Camel Corps hat badge. The badge features a camel facing left, with the Kings Crown on the hump and the letters 'NZ' in the centre of the body. Reflecting its origins as a wartime ad hoc unit the Imperial Camel Corps was never officially issued with cap and collar badges of its own. The New Zealand, Australian, British and Indian soldiers who served in the Camel Corps were expected to just continue wearing the badges of the units they had belonged to before joining the Camel Corps.

This state of affairs proved to be an unsatisfactory one for many of the cameliers, most of whom came to take great pride in the unique status of the Camel Corps and its successful exploits as the war went on. So the cameliers took matters into their own hands and designed their own badges which they then got local Egyptian craftsmen to manufacture for them. These badges were usually designed to reflect the national identity of the wearer (New Zealand, Australian, etc) and could also vary from company to company (the Australians in particular producing a number of different designs, as befitted their having the largest number of camel companies in the Corps).

The first four camel companies of the Imperial Camel Corps were formed in early 1916 to help suppress the Ottoman-backed Senussi raids on British and Egyptian outposts near the Libyan-Egyptian border. Later on that year the Imperial Camel Corps was expanded in size and re-organised to field a complete brigade which took part in the campaigns against Ottoman Turkish forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Palestine. Two New Zealand camel companies (No's 15 and 16) were formed as part of this expansion and served with the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade until it was disbanded in June 1918.

Credit:

Image courtesy National Army Museum Te Mata Toa
Accession Number: 1982.88
Permission of the National Army Museum Te Mata Toa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

tags:

camel corps

Further information - objects of war

This web feature was written by Gareth Phipps with assistance from the National Army Museum Te Mata Toa and produced by the NZHistory.net.nz team.

Books

Wolfe, Richard, With honour, our army, our nation, our history: New Zealand history told through the collections of the QEII Army Memorial Museum, Penguin Group, 2007

NZEF rugby jersey

This jersey was worn by Stan Young during the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) rugby team tour of the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Germany, 1945-46.

The 2NZEF team, dubbed the 'Kiwis', played 33 matches on tour, losing only two, and scoring over 600 points. Known for their entertaining brand of rugby, the team included All Black greats such as Bob Scott, Fred Allen and Charlie Saxton.

War-weary New Zealand was able to follow the tour through the radio commentary of sports broadcaster Winston McCarthy, who accompanied the team. McCarthy's iconic commentaries were the first live rugby broadcasts to New Zealand from the United Kingdom.

Credit:

Image courtesy National Army Museum Te Mata Toa
Accession Number: 1997.222
Permission of the National Army Museum Te Mata Toa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.