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Military history of New Zealand during World War I information


New Zealand troops unloading at a French port in 1918.

New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Active1914–1918
CountryNew Zealand
BranchNew Zealand Army
RoleExpeditionary warfare
Size100,471 men[1]
Nickname(s)NZEF
EngagementsWorld War I
  • Sinai and Palestine Campaign
  • Senussi Campaign
  • Gallipoli Campaign
  • Western Front


The military history of New Zealand during World War I began in August 1914. When Britain declared war on Germany at the start of the First World War, the New Zealand Government followed without hesitation, despite its geographic isolation and small population. It was believed at the time that any declaration of war by the United Kingdom automatically included New Zealand; and the Governor (the Earl of Liverpool) announced that New Zealand was at war with Germany from the steps of Parliament on 5 August.[2][3][4]

The total number of New Zealand troops and nurses to serve overseas in 1914–18, excluding those in British and other Dominion forces, was 100,471, from a population of just over a million. Forty-two percent of men of military age served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, fighting in the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front. 16,697 New Zealanders were killed and 41,317 were wounded during the war – a 58 percent casualty rate.[5] Approximately a further thousand men died within five years of the war's end, as a result of injuries sustained, and 507 died while training in New Zealand between 1914 and 1918.

The First World War saw Māori soldiers serve for the first time in a major conflict with the New Zealand Army (although a number had fought in the Second Boer War when New Zealand recruiters chose to ignore British military policy of the time of disallowing 'native' soldiers). A contingent took part in the Gallipoli campaign, and later served with distinction on the Western Front as part of the New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion. 2,227 Māori and 500 Pasifika, including 150 Niueans, served with New Zealand forces in total.[6][7][8]

  1. ^ Baker, Chris. "Some British Army statistics of the Great War". The Long Long Trail. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Governor's Proclamation". The New Zealand Times. 6 August 1914.
  3. ^ "The voice of the people". The Dominion in Papers Past. 6 August 1914.
  4. ^ "New Zealand and the war". The Colonist in Papers Past. 6 August 1914.
  5. ^ Price, Mark (3 February 2009). "Dunedin family's pride as soldier honoured". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  6. ^ "Māori Units of the NZEF". Nzhistory.govt.nz. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 26 March 2019. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  7. ^ Māhina-Tuai 2012, pp. 140–141.
  8. ^ "Niuean war heroes marked". Western Leader. Stuff. 21 May 2008. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2023.

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