Christopher Pugsley

The long-running Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War is one of Te Papas most popular exhibitions, attracting over three million visitors since it opened in 2015. There is still strong visitor interest in the story of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign in which almost 3000 New Zealanders lost their lives. Just as the exhibition does so compellingly, so this book deploys Weta Workshops artistry to tell the story of the Gallipoli campaign through eight ordinary New Zealanders, the giants of the exhibition. With fold-out images, behind the scenes detail of how the giants were built and essays by those involved in the exhibition, this book is both a souvenir of Scale of Our War and an engaging way for readers to revisit the Gallipoli campaign.

"The Stink" is the story of a New Zealand soldier, Chauncey Adams, who served in the New Zealand army during World War Two in Greece, Egypt and Libya. It is based on his diaries, letters home and photographs which paint a vivid picture. The author has set these in the bigger context of the war around him. What makes this book special is the fact that Chancey was an ordinary soldier who was not an officer and who was not decorated. Never the less, his contribution was extraordinary, as was that of all of the men around him. While he was unable to describe the Battle of Sidi Rezegh because of its horror, the author has filled in the gaps in order to honour those who served and especially those killed, wounded or imprisoned who Chauncey felt have not been properly commemorated.

Reunited with their horses in Egypt after the shattering experience of Gallipoli (a story recounted in Terry Kinloch's earlier book, Echoes of Gallipoli), the Anzac mounted riflemen and light horsemen were initially charged with the defence of the Suez Canal, then with the clearance of the Sinai peninsula, and finally with the destruction of the Turkish armies in Palestine and Syria. At last they could pursue the style of warfare for which they had been trained: on horseback. The First World War battlefields in the Middle East have long been overshadowed by those of Gallipoli and the Western Front. Yet the story of the mounted riflemen in Sinai and Palestine is a truly fascinating one. Using the soldiers' original letters and diaries wherever possible, Kinloch vividly describes every battle and skirmish in the long campaign against the Turks: the crucial Battle of Romani, the defeats at Bir el Abd, Gaza and Amman, and the successes at Beersheba, Ayun Kara and elsewhere. He explains the reality of tactical operations in the harsh desert environment, the ever-present necessity of securing water for the precious horses and the remorseless tenacity of the enemy. The horses play a major part in the story, but of the thousands of faithful animals involved, only one would ever return home after the war. Devils on Horses is a gripping read that offers new information about a theatre of war that has been overlooked for decades. Based on original research, it is sure to be the standard reference work on New Zealand's Middle East campaign for years to come.

Maori soldiers signing up for the First World War representing a formidable fighting force Te Hokowhitu a Tu, or the Seventy twice-told warriors of the war god, Tumatauenga. Some 2,227 Maori and 458 Pacific Islanders enlisted with the Maori Pioneer Battalion, providing an essential element in the New Zealand Division s fighting effort, and earning a reputation for bravery and dependability in France, Flanders and beyond. Prejudice kept the Maori Pioneer Battalion well back from the front lines as support troops, but their war efforts won them rights as full citizens of their homelands. Drawing on rare archival material and previously unpublished diaries and letters, Te Hokowhitu a Tu is the authoritative account of Maori and Pacific Islanders in the First World War, and balances the wider story of the Pioneer Battalion s exploits with a portrait of daily life for soldiers who labored not only against the enemy but also racism behind their own lines. It includes numerous photographs and a full list of those who fought with the Battalion."

Operation Cobra, launched at the end of July 1944, began with a massive aerial bombardment of the German defenders, who either surrendered without a fight or fled. As American armoured divisions swept southwards and westwards, entire German units were encircled, while others simply fell apart. The war of attrition had been replaced by a war of movement.