New Zealand - Soldiers at a roadside YMCA canteen near the Front, World War I
- New Zealand soldiers enjoying mugs of tea at a roadside YMCA canteen near the front line at Gommecourt in France during World War I. The makeshift canteen is below ground level in a support line. On the front of the canteen there is a notice with a YMCA logo and the words: 'Provided by the Lady Liverpool Committee - Masterton. Big thanks Ladies.'
- Photograph taken 21 August 1918
- By Henry Armytage Sanders.
Coloured Photo is created using Artificial Intelligence software so it is not a 100% accurate representation due to limitations of the algorithm.
Quick facts and figures about World War 1
- The total population of New Zealand in 1914 was approximately 1.1 million
- Almost 100,000 New Zealanders served overseas in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF)
- More than 2200 Māori and around 500 Pacific Islanders served overseas with the New Zealand forces
- 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded to soldiers serving with New Zealand forces
- Several thousand New Zealanders served in the Australian or British imperial forces, being awarded a further five Victoria Crosses
- In all, 550 nurses served overseas with the New Zealand Army Nursing Service, while others enlisted in the United Kingdom
- Around 18,000 New Zealanders died in or because of the war, and there were 41,000 instances of wounding or illness; 2779 died at Gallipoli and more than 12,000 on the Western Front
- The names of those who died are recorded on approximately 500 civic war memorials throughout New Zealand
(https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/first-world-war-overview/introduction)
Image source: Battery of 4.2 howitzers captured by a World War 1 Canterbury regiment, France. Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association :New Zealand official negatives, World War 1914-1918. Ref: 1/2-013676-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. natlib.govt.nz/records/22711396