Cavalry units seldom saw combat in open terrain during the New Zealand Wars of the nineteenth century. The Māori had no wish to confront the British and colonial forces in conventional European battles in open fields, but instead usually fought in the bush, the hills, or behind the […]
As my regular readers will already be aware, among my collection of historical ephemera, military memorabilia and postal history are several albums of postcards sent by soldiers during the First World War. This year marks the centenary of the start of that conflict, so I’ll be sharing more […]
Prime Minister John Key recently reignited the debate about New Zealand’s national flag. The same old arguments for and against any change are already being trundled out and so I thought I’d add my two pence. I’m not yet entirely convinced that change is needed at all, but […]
This evening marks one hundred years since curious spectators in Auckland craned their necks to witness one of the first flights in New Zealand made by a Government owned aircraft. Joseph Joel Hammond of the Royal Flying Corps was at the controls of the ‘Britannia’ and in the […]
First, a quick note to my regular readers – thanks so much for all your support and encouragement over the past year. I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season and are ready to make the most of 2014. To get things started here is a short list […]
As a collector of interesting old things it is natural that Christmas related items frequently fall into my hands. I often find examples that fit well in my collections of maritime, military and New Zealand historical ephemera, photos and postcards. This Christmas postcard happens to also be from […]
It is that silly time of year again, so I thought I’d do my bit to spread a little Christmas cheer courtesy of some vintage postcards from my collection. I’ve uploaded these images at a higher resolution than usual on the off-chance that anyone wants to use them […]
