New Zealand - World War I
- NZEF soldiers watching two boxers at Authie, France, 1917
- A crowd of New Zealand soldiers watching two boxers sparring in a ring during a boxing match at the New Zealand Divisional Sports at Authie, France, not long after the Battle of Messines. Messines had cost the New Zealand Division 3700 casualties, including 700 dead.
- Henry Armytage Sanders photo
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)
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Image source: NZEF soldiers watching two boxers at Authie, France, 1917
Henry Armytage Sanders
Archives New Zealand Reference: IA76 Box 7/ H720
Material from Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
https://www.flickr.com/photos/archivesnz/51219446143/