New Zealand at War
1899 – 1972
From the veldt to Vietnam
For a country of its size, New Zealand has carried an outsized share of the twentieth century's wars. Around 100,000 served overseas in the First World War from a population of just over a million; 140,000 in the Second; smaller contingents fought in South Africa, Korea, Malaya and Vietnam. More than 30,000 never came home.
These pages tell that story through its turning points — the campaigns that entered the national memory, and the day of remembrance that grew out of them.