‘The range of emotions that students come up with is confronting and powerful.’ Learning Innovation Specialist Donald James describes how the Learning Team at Te Papa have helped children empathise with war.Read more
To mark Anzac Day, and the third anniversary of the opening of Gallipoli: The scale of our war, the exhibition’s lead curator Kirstie Ross shares the story nurse of Lottie Le Gallais’ other brother Owen, who was buried alive during the Battle of the Somme in September 1916.Read more
20 October marked a significant milestone at Te Papa when Gallipoli: The scale of our war’s one millionth visitor and a friend were escorted through the exhibition. That number is almost equal to New Zealand’s population (1.1 million) during the war, 100 years ago. We’ve reached this phenomenal figure in just 18Read more
Finding Cecil Malthus in a muddy shell hole at the end of Gallipoli: The scale of our war reminds visitors that many Gallipoli veterans like Cecil went on to face more hardship on the Western Front. Just over 100 years ago, in September 1916, Cecil fought in the Battle ofRead more
Guest blogger and long-serving, recently retired Te Papa history curator Michael Fitzgerald introduces the Battle of the Somme, and one man who survived the ferocious fighting that occurred there 100 years ago and another – one of Te Papa’s ‘Berry Boys’ – who lost his life. As visitors leave Gallipoli:Read more
Dr Chris Pugsley, the Historical Director of Gallipoli: The scale of our war provides some background as to why he stood by the use of the original official figures to calculate a 93% casualty rate for the NZEF on Gallipoli: As Historical Director of the Gallipoli: The Scale of ourRead more
Gallipoli: The scale of our war marked its first anniversary this week, on Monday 18th April. The phenomenal numbers visiting the exhibition have left an enormous number of poppies in the shell crater occupied by Cecil Malthus. Skimming the poppies from this ‘pool’ – to stop them from spilling into the galleryRead more
Through military nursing, a group of more than 500 New Zealand women participated directly in the Great War, including Lottie (Charlotte) Le Gallais, who is our seventh larger-than-life figure in Gallipoli: The scale of our war (above). This blog is about her war and the impact it had on the LeRead more
On Monday 21 March, I eagerly read the results of an intensive research project that gives us the clearest indication, to date, of the number of New Zealanders that served on Gallipoli. This research, undertaken by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the New Zealand Defence Force, reveals thatRead more
100 years ago in the early hours of 20 December 1915 the last party of New Zealand men left Anzac Cove, Gallipoli. The campaign was over. For those of us who worked on the exhibition, Gallipoli: The scale of our war, the stories of the Anzacs’ tenuous presence there fromRead more
As part of a series of blog publications about the giants that feature in the exhibition, ’Gallipoli: the scale of our war’, and to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Chunuk Bair, I have been asked to write about the two Māori soldiers who are found in the MachineRead more
As part of a series of blogs about the giants that feature in the exhibition, Gallipoli: The scale of our war, and to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Chunuk Bair, I have been asked to write about the two Māori soldiers who are found in the Machine GunnersRead more
100 years ago tonight on 5 August 1915, Lieutenant Colonel William Malone wrote his last words to his beloved wife Ida on the eve of the Chunuk Bair campaign on Gallipoli. Ida had travelled to Britain with their three small children to be nearer her husband. They hoped to meetRead more
This is the fourth blog in our series about the real people behind the larger-than-life sculptures featured in Gallipoli: The scale of our war. This is the story of John Robert Dunn, known as ‘Jack’, who was one of the thousands of keen young men who rushed to enlist atRead more
This is the third blog in our series about the real people behind the eight Weta Workshop-crafted models featured in Gallipoli: The scale of our war. The previous two blogs have been about Spencer Westmacott and Percival Fenwick. This one focuses on Colin ‘Col’ Warden, shown in this pre-war photograph,Read more
