Cenotaph Stories

View by topic:

Stories from Singapore: the RNZAF in World War II
Matthew Nickless
Collection Technician - Research Support
Despite the proximity of Singapore and the Pacific to New Zealand, most New Zealand forces were concentrated in North Africa in 1942. Matthew Nickless looks at two RNZAF servicemen who served close to home, and their experiences during the Fall of Singapore.
Read more
Aghan Brothers
Georgina White
Curator, Cenotaph Galleries
At the outbreak of the First World War, there were approximately 2500 people of Chinese descent living in New Zealand. Nearly 40 Chinese service personnel have been identified, this is the story of the Aghan brothers; Alfred and David who moved from Australia to serve for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
Read more
25 Years of Online Cenotaph
Victoria Passau
Online Cenotaph and Enquiry Services Manager
Online Cenotaph has been commemorating the experiences of Aotearoa New Zealand’s military service for more than 25 years. Online Cenotaph is a collection of data relating to Aotearoa New Zealand’s operational military service including personal, biographical, demographic, social and military information. But it is much more than a collection of datapoints.
Read more
'ATA-Girls': The Fab Five of New Zealand Aviation
Dr Gabrielle Fortune
Historian
They were called 'ATA-girls' (attagirls) female pilots who served with the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) during the Second World War. During the war 168 women served with the ATA, including five New Zealand Women who paid their own way to England for a chance to fly.
Read more
A Kiwi in Canada
Nelson Bennett
Collection Technician - Research Support
Lawrence Don Bennett was one of 7000 kiwis who shipped off to Canada to take part in the Air Training Scheme. The program was massive, and it affected so many New Zealand service people, but is often overlooked in the history of the Second World War.
Read more
Three Generations of Service
Nelson Bennett
Collection Technician - Research Support
This article is about the McFarlanes, a family that, like so many others, was marked by the horrors of war through the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their story gives us insight into the struggles of so many New Zealand families in this period.
Read more
Pamela Todd in Singapore
Victoria Passau, Online Cenotaph & Enquiry Service Manager
The New Zealand Army had a long-term presence in South East Asia. Including the 1st Battalion (1RNZIR) base in Singapore post-Vietnam up until 1974. Online Cenotaph has very few records for this period of service and so we jumped at the chance to interview nurse Pamela (Pam) Todd who had served in South East Asia in 1972.
Read more
New Zealand Battalion 5 in Timor Leste
Captain Roger Hovenden (Ret.)
In this Cenotaph Story Roger Hovenden shares his experience of service in East Timor (Timor Leste) between November 2001 to May 2002. Between September 1999 and 2002, more than 5,000 NZDF personnel served in Timor as part of International Force East Timor and others did until 2012, serving with the United Nations.
Read more
Ron Hands: Victor 4’s Chef
Warrant Officer Ron Hands, New Zealand Army, (Ret.)
Warrant Officer Ron Hands (Ret.) kindly provided the following article in response to a call for submissions printed in the Spring 2022 Edition of the Veteran's News. Ron was a Chef with 1RNZIR at Terendak Camp, 1968-1970.
Read more
Support Online Cenotaph
December 2021 marked 25 years of Online Cenotaph. The Museum is working hard to expand the voices being shared on Online Cenotaph so that more of our communities can access this taonga. We are so excited to recognise this significant milestone in digital commemoration, but we need your help to fulfil our potential for years to come.
Read more

1 2 3 4 5 ...