Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. ‘A Most Creditable Production’: Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F. (New Zealand Expeditionary Force), 1916- 1919: Their Publication and Utility for Historical Research A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Defence and Strategic Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North New Zealand Carolyn Jane Carr 2011 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F. (New Zealand Expeditionary Force) that were published during World War I from August 1916 until January 1919, and their usefulness for historical research. The thesis explores how they were published, their purpose and the role of the editor Clutha Mackenzie. The content for a sample of issues that cover New Zealand’s participation in the First Battle of the Somme (1916) and the Third Battle of Ypres (1917), also known as Passchendaele, is analysed and the contributors and correspondents identified. The same sample of issues are studied in detail and compared and contrasted to ascertain how these battles are written about in the Chronicles and how useful this material might be for historical research. The thesis finds that the Chronicles mostly succeeded in meeting its three aims. These were to be a means of communicating with the New Zealand troops in all theatres of the war and in the United Kingdom as well as with the people back in New Zealand, to provide a record of how the money raised in New Zealand to support the troops was being spent, and to be a medium for the literary efforts of the troops. Assisted by some influential supporters, both civilian and to a lesser extent the military authorities, the editor played a key role in starting the Chronicles and in all aspects of their production, including funding, content and distribution, which ensured their continuous publication for more than two years. As a source for historical research the thesis finds that they do not add to the existing battle narratives about the New Zealanders’ part in the Somme and Passchendaele. However the variety of detail on army organisation and everyday life at the front provides a rich and largely under-utilised source of material for social and cultural studies. They also offer a window through which to view the thoughts and feelings of the New Zealand soldier in the First World War. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the staff of the National Library of New Zealand, the Alexander Turnbull Library, Archives New Zealand and the Kippenberger Military Archives and Research Library for their assistance in making available a range of primary source material for my research. My thanks to Mrs Ros Cole-Baker for generously allowing me full access to a large trunk containing the papers of her grandfather, Clutha Mackenzie. Ros and her husband Hugh provided wonderful hospitality during my stay at Tidesong, near Whangarei, while working on the papers. I owe special thanks to my supervisor Professor Glyn Harper at the Centre for Defence Studies, Massey University, for his expertise, encouragement and patience during the last two years. Many people have helped me in the course of this work in both a professional and practical way. In particular I wish to acknowledge Dr Ian McGibbon, my colleagues John Crawford and Zane Kidd, my dear friend Dr Antonia Davin for translating the French, and my husband, daughters and family who gave me the encouragement and space to undertake this research. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Chronicles: Their Purpose, Publication and Readership 8 Chapter 2: The Editor: Clutha Mackenzie 26 Chapter 3: Content including Prose, Poetry and Cartoons 43 Chapter 4: Contributors and Correspondents 67 Chapter 5: First Battle of the Somme (1916): ‘The Anzacs are “Somme Fighters” ’ 85 Chapter 6: Third Battle of Ypres (1917) 119 Chapter 7: Comparison between coverage of the First Battle of the Somme (1916) and the Third Battle of Ypres (1917) 153 Conclusion 165 Bibliography 179 iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS Figure 1 Advertisements 13 Figure 2 Cartoon: H. Simon, ‘After the Push – Pleasure’ 17 Figure 3 Insert: ‘Specially Resurrected Edition in the War Zone …’ 21 Figure 4 Photograph: ‘Blinded at Gallipoli’ 42 Figure 5 Front Cover: Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F., J. H. Gilmour 58 Figure 6 Front Cover: Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F., H. Rountree 58 Figure 7 Cartoon: F. R. Alex, ‘ … (With Apologies to Bairnsfather)’ 59 Figure 8 Cartoon: T. H. Kelsey, ‘ “We Missed Christmas …!” ’ 60 Figure 9 Photograph: ‘Boys off on a Bus Ride, Walton’ 61 Figure 10 Map: Somme September 1916 87 Figure 11 Map: Flanders June – December 1917 122 Figure 12 Cartoon: ‘ “Say, Mate, the Man who Christened this place ‘Ypres’ must have been a Prophet ...” ’ 147 v ABBREVIATIONS H.C.N.Z. High Commissioner for New Zealand N.Z.E. New Zealand Engineers N.Z.E.F. New Zealand Expeditionary Force N.Z.F.A. New Zealand Field Artillery N.Z.R.B. New Zealand Rifle Brigade N.Z.W.C.A. New Zealand War Contingent Association O.I.R. Otago Infantry Regiment R.S.A. Returned Soldiers’ Association V.A.D. Voluntary Aid Detachment Y.M.C.A. Young Men’s Christian Association vi INTRODUCTION The Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F. (New Zealand Expeditionary Force) was published in London from 30 August 1916 until 24 January 1919 by the New Zealand War Contingent Association (N.Z.W.C.A.). The Association itself had been formed at a meeting called by Sir Thomas Mackenzie, the High Commissioner for New Zealand (H.C.N.Z.), in London, on 14 August 1914, the same month that war was declared. At that meeting Sir Thomas proposed that an organisation be set up to assist New Zealand soldiers who were in hospital or convalescing in England, as well as to provide some support for those at the front, and be a means of communicating with soldiers and their relatives.1 According to their subtitle the Chronicles was intended as ‘records of matters concerning the troops and gazette of patriotic effort’. Clutha Mackenzie was appointed to be the editor, prior to which he had served as a New Zealand soldier at Gallipoli where he was blinded. He was the son of Sir Thomas, mentioned above. In the first issue Clutha Mackenzie made a statement about the publication’s purpose. It was to ‘gather and dispense matters of interest from the High Commissioner’s Office, from the N.Z.W.C.A. and from the men themselves’.2 The editor hoped that the efforts of those who were working for the well-being of the troops, including New Zealanders and the Allies, together with people in need in Britain and other wounded soldiers would be acknowledged. Cecil J. Wray, the Organising Secretary of the N.Z.W.C. A., in his foreword to the first issue, endorsed these intentions and hoped that the 1 L. O. H. Tripp, ‘War Relief and Patriotic Societies’, in The War Effort of New Zealand, H. T. B. Drew, (ed.), Auckland: Whitcombe and Tombs, 1932, p. 185. 2 Clutha Mackenzie, ‘Editorial’, Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F., 1 no. 1 (1916): 3. 1 Chronicles would also be an ‘outlet for their [the New Zealand troops] literary aspirations’.3 This thesis will examine the circumstances that led to the publication of the Chronicles, its aims, the production arrangements, and the role of the editor, his background and the extent to which he shaped the publication. There will be an analysis of the content, including the editorials and the various contributors, for two specified subsets of the Chronicles covering the period of the New Zealand Division’s fighting in the First Battle of the Somme in 1916 and the Third Battle of Ypres (also known as the Battle of Passchendaele) in October 1917. Finally, the material written about the two battles during the specified time periods will be studied in detail. That study will assess the significance of this body of work as a source for historical research, to determine how it might add to the known facts about the battles and the way in which the troops viewed the experience. The main information sources are the 61 issues of the Chronicles themselves, in their entirety, but those published around the time of the First Battle of the Somme (1916) and Passchendaele (October 1917) are studied more closely. Some histories of World War I in general, and the two battles in particular, are consulted. Key publications include The First World War by John Keegan; Passchendaele: The Untold Story and The Somme both by Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson; The Somme by Gary Sheffield; The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War edited by Hew Strachan; and The Road to Passchendaele and The Western Front 1914-18 both by John Terraine. From the extensive body of writing on this period those works that include some detail of the part the New Zealanders played are also consulted. Lyn Macdonald’s Somme and They Called it Passchendaele are two examples. For a New Zealand perspective some of the semi-official histories written following the end of World 3 Cecil Wray, ‘Foreword’, Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F., 1 no. 1 (1916): 4. 2 War I are studied, including The New Zealand Division 1916-1919 by Hugh Stewart, and The New Zealand Medical Service in the Great War 1914-18 by Andrew Carbery.