Neil Frances (5)

Things Have Been Pretty Lively: The Great War Diary of Melve King

ISBN: 9780958261739

Author: Neil Frances    Publisher: Wairarapa Archive

DoP - November 2008, NZ Private Melville King of Carterton was a tiny part of New Zealand's huge manpower contribution to the Allied armies in World War One. Hi...


DoP - November 2008, NZ Private Melville King of Carterton was a tiny part of New Zealand's huge manpower contribution to the Allied armies in World War One. His diary, recording what he did and what he saw, reflects the military service of an ordinary young man half the globe away from home and in extraordinary circumstances. His perceptive and detailed view of the Great War adds an important 'voice' to the New Zealand understanding of that tragic and crucial event. Melve King's words are supported by additional text explaining facets of his army life and the major campaigns and battles of the New Zealand Division on the Western Front. Melve faithfully recorded many of the Wairarapa men he served with and these are detailed in an extensive personnel index.


Pages: 232


Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm


Publication Date: 09-11-2008


Tags: Biography   New Zealand   Military
$30.00
Safe Haven

ISBN: 9780958261791

Author: Neil Frances    Publisher: Fraser Books

Safe Haven traces the life of Featherston Military Camp and, through letters, diaries and reminiscences, the men who lived there. The camp left a legacy in buil...


Safe Haven traces the life of Featherston Military Camp and, through letters, diaries and reminiscences, the men who lived there. The camp left a legacy in buildings, photographs and the site itself, now quiet land alongside State Highway Two, east of Featherston. The building of Featherston Military Camp in late 1915 transformed a stony paddock east of Featherston township in south Wairarapa into a ready-made barrack town which could house up to 8,000 raw soldiers at a time. Volunteers and conscripts from all parts of the country came to Featherston, spending two to four months in training, our largest military base their temporary home before they left the safety of New Zealand to endure the heaviest wartime casualties this country has suffered. They lived in barracks and tents, enduring the good and bad of camp life and Featherston's lively climate. The infantry then marched over the Rimutaka Range to Trentham Camp before taking ship for the Western Front. In total about 55,000 men trained at the Featherston Military Camp between 1916-19.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 175


Tags: New Zealand   Military
$30.00
A Rifle & A Camera

ISBN: 9780992247553

Author: Neil Frances    Publisher: Wairarapa Archive

Wairarapa soldiers, like thousands of New Zealanders in the Great War, enthusiastically added newly-available small cameras to their personal kit. During their ...


Wairarapa soldiers, like thousands of New Zealanders in the Great War, enthusiastically added newly-available small cameras to their personal kit. During their service at home and overseas, they took large numbers of photographs to record the years which, for many, would be the most dramatic and dangerous of their lives. A Rifle and a Camera shows, for the first time, 300 photographs from eight private collections held at Wairarapa Archive, giving a new perspective to a world war which shaped the 20th century.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 128


Dimensions: 260 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 09-04-2017


$29.50
On The Move Again

ISBN: 9780995123229

Author: Neil Frances    Publisher: Wairarapa Archive

Masterton-born Len Frances joined New Zealand’s war effort when qualifying for service in November 1940 and training became serious with the Pacific War’s o...


Masterton-born Len Frances joined New Zealand’s war effort when qualifying for service in November 1940 and training became serious with the Pacific War’s outbreak in December 1941. He was called into camp immediately, spending the first months of 1942 at Masterton’s Solway Military Camp, training for the infantry. After officer training, he was posted to anti-aircraft guns and helped prepare reinforcements in the Wellington area – and married Jean. Part of the 10th reinforcement, Len left New Zealand in July 1943, reverting to the ranks in Egypt to join 6th Field Regiment as a gunner. He served right through the Italian Campaign, feeding the guns at Sangro River, Cassino, Florence and up the Adriatic coast to Trieste, occasionally taking a little time out to continue accountancy studies. Len kept a diary for 31 months, detailing military and other experiences in the land of his father’s birth, a Kiwi-Italian in the midst of total war. His story is also that of a young husband separated from wife and family half a world away. The Author A lifetime interest in military history led Masterton-born author Neil Frances to write on these aspects of Wairarapa’s past. On the Move Again is his sixth book published by Wairarapa Archive/Fraser Books. While previous volumes examined people, events and places, this new book is more personal, based on the diary of his father, a gunner in Italy during World War Two.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 160


Dimensions: 170 x 245 mm


Publication Date: 24-04-2021


Tags: May 2021   Biography   Military   NZ (History)
$30.00
A Long Long Trail

ISBN: 9780992247539

Author: Neil Frances    Publisher: Fraser Books

Neil Frances tells the story of the famous Rimutaka Hill marches during the First World War and the re-enactment in September 2015.


Neil Frances tells the story of the famous Rimutaka Hill marches during the First World War and the re-enactment in September 2015.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 96


$35.00
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