Happy New Year! Anniversaries give us a chance to reflect and remember how our yesterday shaped our today. Here are some historical anniversaries to watch out for this year – as usual I’ve included a mix of local and international, some well-known and others that are likely to […]
The festive season can be a stressful time with work deadlines looming, last minute dashes to crowded malls and holidaymakers clogging the highways. It can be easy to feel a little overwhelmed, but we have it pretty good really. Most of us are fortunate enough to have a […]
12 October 1917 – Machine guns poked over the parapets and bayonets were at the ready. Soldiers in khaki approached tentatively, but this wasn’t a battlefield – it was a military-themed ballroom. This is the little-known story of a grand ball that was held in Wellington at the […]
It isn’t often that one gets the opportunity to solve a secret message written over a century ago. I’ve been collecting vintage postcards for more than twenty years and this is the only one I’ve personally come across that has a message on the back actually written in […]
These previously unpublished photographs of the Home Guard offer a rare candid view of an often-overlooked part of New Zealand’s experience during the Second World War. Far from being a safe sideshow, with limited resources these men bravely faced a genuine threat and were prepared to defend their […]
Well somehow another year has passed so, as usual, here is a list of upcoming anniversaries to look out for. Some international ones and some local New Zealand dates as well, some notable ones and some others that will likely pass with little commemoration.
The prominent heights of Pointe du Hoc on the Normandy coast were the scene of a desperate battle during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. The strategic promontory overlooks Utah Beach to the west and Omaha Beach to the east, making it an obvious choice for a coastal battery. To mark the anniversary of D-Day I thought I’d share some photos I took during a visit to the site.
