New Zealand's Western Front Campaign

by Ian McGibbon

The first modern account of the whole of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force's Western Front campaigning, from 1914 to 1918, a total force of some 74000 men, including the specialist forces, such as the tunnellers and the railwaymen. With nearly 14,000 dead, the Western Front was the most costly of all the campaigns in which New Zealand military personnel have taken part, accounting for two-thirds of New Zealand's fatalities in the First World War. This book covers this participation in all its facets, challenges myths that exist about New Zealand's effort and throws new light on aspects of the involvement. The battles that New Zealand soldiers fought are described in detail, and placed in the wider context of the conflict. The tedium of trench warfare, the terror of going over the top in major attacks and the exhilaration of taking part in the open warfare that concluded the campaign are all part of the story. Includes specially prepared maps to provide details and illustrate specific aspects of all the main battles of the campaign.

408 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Dr Ian McGibbon, ONZM, was formerly General Editor (War History) at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, having begun his career as the Defence Historian at the Ministry of Defence. A widely acclaimed author, he has had a hand in over 15 books, including such major publications as The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History (2000), New Zealand and the Second World War: The People, The Battles and the Legacy (2004), New Zealand's Great War: New Zealand, the Allies and the First World War (2007), The Penguin Book of New Zealanders at War (2009), and New Zealand's Vietnam War (2010).

For the last five years, McGibbon has been involved in the Joint Historical and Archaeological Survey of the Anzac Battlefield, a tri-nation project at Gallipoli.

He lives in Paraparaumu.