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Cenotaph Stories

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Cenotaph Stories

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Wwi

  • From Hastings to Hollywood: Nola Luxford

    Sophie Elborough
    Collection Technician - Research Support

    Nola Luxford was a New Zealand-born actress who built a remarkable career as a writer and pioneering broadcaster before founding the Anzac Club in New York City during World War II. Her fundraising and wartime radio broadcasts earned her the title "Angel of the Anzacs".

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  • Eyes in the Sky: New Zealanders in the Photographic Reconnaissance Units

    Matthew Nickless
    Collection Technician - Research Support

    The pilots of the Photographic Reconnaissance Units flew into enemy territory, often unarmed, in pursuit of intelligence to aid the war effort. These are the stories of two New Zealanders who flew these missions with the RAF, and the danger they met with.

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  • Leave No One Behind: Walter von Schramm and the Graves Registration Unit

    Matthew Nickless
    Collection Technician - Research Support

    The Graves Registration Unit is one of the lesser known units of World War II. Through the war diary of its commanding officer, Walter von Schramm, we look at the role of that unit, and how it fit into the wider New Zealand war effort.

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  • Remembering the Fallen: Memorials and Memory in post-War New Zealand

    Matthew Nickless
    Collection Technician - Research Support

    In towns and cities across Aotearoa New Zealand, war memorials stand as quiet witnesses to sacrifice, loss, and remembrance. The story of a lamp-post in Rakaia, gifted in memory of one young soldier, reminds us of the deeply personal motives behind these public memorials.

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  • Upholding Māoritanga: Stories of Māori Prisoners of War in WWII

    Sophie Elborough
    Collection Technician, Research Support

    While stories of New Zealand’s prisoners of war during WWII are plentiful, there has been little focus on the experiences of Māori POW. Their stories reveal that despite hardship, significant displays of Māoritanga broke through the mundanity and hopelessness of their time as prisoners and demonstrate the importance of their experiences in New Zealand’s history.

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  • Dick Owen and the Arctic Convoys

    Sophie Elborough (COLLECTION TECHNICIAN) & Judy Owen (Volunteer)
    Online Cenotaph

    Pou Maumahara volunteer Judy Owen shares a story written by her father Malcolm (Dick) Cunningham Owen about his experience in the Arctic Convoys during World War II.

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  • Echoes across the waves: The Wally Ware story

    Sophie Elborough (Collection Technician) and Victoria Passau (Online Cenotaph & Enquiry Services Manager)

    Wally Ware served in the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II, witnessing key moments aboard HMNZS Achilles and Gambia. His remarkable experiences, from naval battles to coded letters home, shaped his post-war life as a pioneering farmer and community leader.

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  • The Kokoda Legacy: New Zealanders among the ranks

    Matthew Nickless
    Collection Technician - Research Support

    New Zealand has always had a close military connection with Australia. This is the story of two New Zealanders who served with the Second Australian Imperial Force in one of Australia's most famous campaigns - the Kokoda Trail.

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  • A message home: Connecting whānau through Online Cenotaph

    Victoria Passau, Online Cenotaph & Enquiry Service Manager

    In 2024, sound history researcher Sarah Johnston shared a poignant story about a World War II sound disc that reconnected the family of Daniel Joseph Clifford, a young New Zealand airman, with the voice of their long-lost loved one.

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  • Life after Armistice: William Osborne Liggins

    Sophie Elborough
    COLLECTION TECHNICIAN - RESEARCH SUPPORT

    While Armistice Day was not an official end to World War I, it did mark a vital turning point in the conflict. For the approximately 52,000 New Zealand service personnel overseas, including William Osborne Liggins, the news meant leaving behind muddy trenches and starting a long journey back home.

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