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Cecil Malthus : World War I papers [letters, telegrams, documents]
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 or 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.
This collection of letters and documents dates from April 1914 to his discharge in April 1917. The collection is not complete, and portions of some letters are missing. The letters follow Malthus’ progress from training in New Zealand to his experiences throughout the war, including time in Egypt preparing for Gallipoli, and his time in France. Malthus was injured in September 1916 and returned to New Zealand in March 1917.
Rights statement
Letters and documents digitised by Christchurch City Libraries from a private collection.
This material has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and not for published reproduction.
Related
- Cenotaph database record for Cecil Malthus
- Cenotaph database record for the Athenic
- Catalogue search for books by Cecil Malthus
- The history of the Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F. 1914-1919 (published in 1921)
Links
- New Zealand at War Resources
- World War I information from NZHistory.net.nz
- New Zealand Soldiers at War: the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War I A selection of titles drawn from the Film Archive collection of war-related films dated from earlier than 1919. All are of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
