Lest we forget: ANZAC Day
 ANZAC Day in New Zealand is held on 25 April each year to commemorate New Zealanders killed in war and to honour returned servicemen and women.
Anzac is an acronym - a word made from the first letters of the title Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the formation created in December 1914 by grouping the Australian Imperial Force and New Zealand Expeditionary Force during World War I.
Those who gave their lives in New Zealand’s name are commemorated on ANZAC Day and Armistice Day. If you are interested in further research, Christchurch City Libraries has an extensive guide called Wars and Conflicts on its website. See also the online collection of war photographs.
Our City O-Tautahi will be hosting the Commonwealth War Graves Commission 90th Anniversary Exhibition from Monday 21 April to Saturday 7 June. This exhibition features a foundation of beautiful and poignant photographs from Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites around the world commemorating 90 years of service. It is accompanied by They are Not Missing – They are Here: personal stories and perspectives from local people.
Christchurch's Nurses' Memorial chapel is the only war memorial in New Zealand dedicated solely to the memory of women. The chapel was built in memory of three nurses from Christchurch Hospital who died when the troopship Marquette was torpedoed in 1915 during World War I, and to two nurses who died in the influenza epidemic of 1918.
 Read letters from the front online
Timaru-born Cecil Malthus wrote two books about his war-time experiences. Born in 1890, he spent three years in service in the 1st Canterbury Battalion from 1914. The Canterbury College modern languages professor first published ANZAC: A retrospect in 1965. In the foreword of the book he wrote:
“I offer nothing but the truth for those who want to know what the war was like for the average man. Readers can believe that whatever I relate of my own experience is very nearly the same as what happened to their own uncle for grandfather.” A collection of Malthus’ letters has been digitised and made available online by Christchurch City Libraries. The letters are penned to his future wife, Hazel Watters. Malthus died on 25 July 1976.
 War ‘horrible messy business’
Ken Catran is taking no prisoners with his latest book, Monsters of Blood and Honour. There’s some graphic and gruesome accounts of death and destruction during World War II, and the Waimate-based author is making no apologies. Read the full article on The Pulse. “I’m trying to make kids understand that war’s a violent, horrible and messy business,” he says. Monsters of blood and honour is three separate stories of young New Zealanders meeting up with war veterans. The veterans were teenagers themselves when they went to war.
We recommend: ANZAC Day resources
Our online resources:
Our Internet Gateway recommends:
Browse the resources in our libraries:
We recommend: Online resources
Our online resources: What’s new on the blog
The Christchurch City Libraries blog is written for people who love books, movies and music and want to know about the latest developments and trends in the book world. Regularly updated and constantly fresh, the blog has plenty to offer avid readers and music fans. Recent posts include:
What’s new on the library website?
Suggest a theme:
We want your feedback on our editions - feel free to suggest a theme that you think other library users would find useful.
Next week: NZ Music Month
Next week we preview some of the fantastic music events on at Christchurch City Libraries during May. |
|
