Remembering our Anzacs

World War 1 (1914-1918) was one of the most significant events of the 20th century and had a seismic impact on New Zealand society.

The total population of New Zealand in 1914 was just over one million. In all, more than 120,000 New Zealand men and women enlisted. This was just under 10 per cent of our then population. About 18,000 New Zealanders died in, or because of, WW1. More than 2700 died at Gallipoli alone (ww100.govt.nz).

World War 2 (1939-1945) was the greatest conflict ever to engulf the world. It took the lives of 50 million people, including one in every 150 New Zealanders, and shaped the world we have lived in ever since. WW2 was the only war to directly threaten New Zealand. The total population of New Zealand in 1940 was about 1,600,000. About 140,000 New Zealand men and women enlisted. New Zealand's ratio of killed per million of population (at 6684) was the highest in the Commonwealth (with Britain at 5123 and Australia, 3232). About 11,928 New Zealanders died in, or because of, WW2 (nzhistory.govt.nz).

WWII. Haka performed by soldiers of the the 28th (Māori) Battalion, attached to the 2nd New Zealand Division in North Africa, 1941.

While public services were unable to go ahead today due to the Covid-19 lockdown, there is a way people can mark the day at home and support our past and current service men and women.

With no poppies on sale this year, people are being encouraged to decorate their letterboxes and, if possible, to go online and buy a virtual poppy.

WWI. New Zealand Expeditionary Force troops waiting to board troopship No.10 (the Arawa) at Wellington on September 24, 1914.

The RSA site also includes Anzac-themed crafts for all ages. Younger family members can listen to two New Zealand books on RNZ Storytime - The Red Poppy and Lest We Forget - at RNZ Storytime.

You can also delve into the New Zealand History site to learn more about the wartime experiences and the impact on those overseas and at home.

WWI Gallipoli. Landing place, supply dump and dispersal point for wounded at Anzac Cove, 1915.

WWI Gallipoli, A view of troops landing from ships' boats onto the beach at Anzac Cove in April 1915. The men are thought to be New Zealand soldiers.

WWI Gallipoli - Officers and soldiers of the Wellington Mounted Rifles occupy a captured Ottoman trench on the summit of Table Top, 7 August 1915 in preparation for the attack on Chunuk Bair the next day. They briefly tasted triumph when, with British infantry, they reached the summit of Chunuk Bair, one of the Sari Bair high points. They held the summit for two days, but the failure to seize the other two high points doomed the offensive, and the Turks soon drove the Allies off Chunuk Bair.

WWI. New Zealand soldiers in Switch Trench, previously occupied by the Germans during the Battle of the Somme, September 1916.

WWI. Victoria Cross recipient Sergeant Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett eating a meal in the trenches, 1917. He was the only soldier serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force to be awarded the VC in the Gallipoli Campaign. The citation reads, 'For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on the Chunuk Bair ridge in the Gallipoli Peninsula on 7th August, 1915.

WWI. General Alexander Godley (left front holding cane) with King George V, inspecting the New Zealand Division, August 1916

WWI. Group portrait of part of a New Zealand battalion that fought successfully at the Battle of Messines, Belgium. Some of the troops are wearing souvenir-ed German helmets and caps. France, 1917.

WWI. Men of the 2nd Canterbury Battalion, New Zealand Division, rest in a shell hole on the opening day of the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, September 1916.

WWII. Major General Howard Kippenberger, commander of the New Zealand Division and double recipient of the Victoria Cross Charles Upham pictured together. Both men were born and raised in Christchurch.

WWII. New Zealand Army Sergeant Ian Thomas smoking a pipe during the North African Campaign in Egypt, 1942.

WWII. New Zealand Infantry pictured during live training in Egypt, October 1941.

WWII. Squadron Leader J.M. (Johnny) Checketts, DSO, DFC, Royal Airforce. The New Zealander was an ace during World War II, credited with the destruction of 14 1⁄2 enemy aircraft, three probably destroyed and 11 damaged.

WWII. New Zealand fighter pilots from 486 Squadron, RNZAF. The NZ squadron was part of the RAF, formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme.

WWII. Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park who commanded 11 group, RAF during the Battle of Britain. The New Zealander was in operational command during two of the most significant World War II air battles of the European theatre, helping to win the Battle of Britain and the Battle of Malta.