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. Memory, History, Nation, War The Official Histories of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-45 A thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirement of the Doctor of Philosophy in History Rachael Elizabeth Bell 2012 Massey University, Palmerston North New Zealand Memory, History, Nation, War The Official Histories of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-45 Rachael Elizabeth Bell 2012 Abstract The Official Histories of the Second World War are the largest historiographical project in /%'4+"#+,(*1"1*+,#%%-++(** *',0,+ (*#'#.#-%,,%+' for the war as a whole. The War Histories were intended to fi%%/#*'!( *(%+"1/*,(3,(' memorial, a souvenir, an interpretation of events and a record of experience in certain +)#%#+ #%+4"(' %#,#'!',-*( ,"+*(%+*,(-%#"(,(&1/#,"#' the War History project, between an affirmative national memory and an empirically accurate history on the one hand and between the critical evaluation of campaigns and the recognition of service and sacrifice on the other. This thesis examines this dichotomy through a framework of memory, history, nation and war. It uses four case studies from the War History series, Journey towards Christmas, by S.P. Llewellyn, 23 Battalion, by Angus Ross, Crete, by Dan Davin and Battle for Egypt, the Summer of 1942, by J.L. Scoullar, to consider the extent to which the tensions between the roles of the Histories influenced their production and their place as contemporary histories in post-war New Zealand. While the War Histories represent the largest repository of information on New Zealand in World War Two, the thesis contends that to use the series now as reference works only is to miss a significant opportunity. The War Histories were Official, but they were also contemporary and collective in their production. Each volume in the series is a valuable historical text in its own right, and can be read and deconstructed as representative of both the individual and society that produced it. iii Acknowledgements My first thanks in this thesis goes to my two supervisors, Kerry Taylor and Basil Poff. ,/' +#%4+*(+/)( #+'**14+$'1('," #'#+"!(%,"1". been a complementary team and a pleasure to work with. Thank you. Many thanks also to my employers, International Pacific College, for their financial support and practical assistance. This goes especially to Neil Bond and Bridget Percy for their help. My thanks to Glyn Harper, Massey University, for his interest and making his interview material available to me. It was very much appreciated. My thanks to my friends and family for their support: Martin Paviour-Smith, fellow travellers Helen Dollery and Peter Meihana, my sister Tracey Bell for her excellent editing and support, ',(&1%('!+- *#'!"#%*'(&'%' (*+-*.#.#'!,"#*&(,"*4+,"#*,"sis. This is the last one. Probably. My special thanks also to Celia Pawson and the crew at Old Kips Rd. You have kept me fed, checked my livestock and practically raised Helen these last six months. You are wonderful friends. Thank you. iv Contents Abstract ........ ............................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. iv Abbreviations ............................................................................................................ vi Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1: 3#!"*#,#('+'((*,#+4 22 3 *21 %#!", -% (',*),#('4 58 3"#'+,"#'!#'-*#.+4 103 3"#+#+(/-*,(*14 143 3"*,"( *-,"4................................................................... 184 3"(-%(, -+,(*14 213 7 Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 255 v Abbreviations 1NZEF First New Zealand Expeditionary Force 2NZEF Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force AIF Australian Imperial Force AR Auckland Museum & Institute ASC Army Service Corps ATL Alexander Turnbull Library Bde Brigade BGS Brigadier General Staff Bn Battalion CB Companion of the Order of the Bath CBE Companion of the Order of the British Empire CGS Chief of General Staff CO Commanding Officer Col Colonel CRA Commander Royal Artillery DCGS Deputy Chief of General Staff DCM Distinguished Conduct Medal DSO Distinguished Service Order ED Efficiency Decoration GOC General Officer Commanding Gen General GSO1 General Staff Officer Class 1 HQ Headquarters KBE Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire KCB Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Lt Lieutenant MA Master of Arts Degree Maj Major MBE Member of the Order of the British Empire MC Military Cross vi NA Archives New Zealand NAAFI Navy, Army, Air Force Institutes NA, UK National Archives, United Kingdom NCO Non Commissioned Officer NZ Div New Zealand Division OBE Order of the British Empire PhD Doctor of Philosophy POW Prisoner of War RAF Royal Air Force RMT Reserve Mechanical Transport RNZA Royal New Zealand Artillery RSA Returned Services Association R/T Radio Telephone Sgt Sergeant UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNE University of New England VC Victoria Cross VD Volunteer Officers Decoration W/T Wireless Telephone WWI World War One WWII World War Two vii Introduction In their scale and complexity the 48 histories produced by the government War History Branch following the Second World War were a major historiographical event in New Zealand. In volume, these works has been surpassed only in recent years by those produced for the Waitangi Tribunal. Yet while the role of history in the Tribunal process has attracted sustained analysis and debate,1 historiographical interest in the War Histories has been slight and critical assessment of their aims and methodology lacking. The New Zealand War History Branch was part of a broader initiative across the Commonwealth and it attracted the admiration of others in the network for the level of detail in its volumes and the rigour of its analysis.2 It is ironic that while in countries such as Canada and Australia war historiography has blossomed in recent decades in New Zealand, despite renewed political interest in the role of war in forging national identity, the War Histories continue to be thought of as something historiographically apart. Yet the War Histories were viewed at the time of their initiation as being of WCJ9FK<9@A=B;=ADCFH5B79X 3 /=H<<IB8F98GC:H<CIG5B8GC:8C7IA9BHG5HH<9F5B7<XG disposal, the Histories were expecH98HC697CA9H<989:=B=H=J9577CIBH5B85W:=HH=B; 1 +99:CF9L5AD@9/ '@=J9FW,<9IHIF99<=B8-GH<9,F95HMC:/5=H5B;=XG*9HFCGD97H=J9-HCD=5X=B Andrew Sharp & Paul McHugh, (eds.), Histories, Power and Loss, Uses of the Past: A New Zealand Commentary, Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2001, pp. 9-29; Giselle Byrnes, The Treaty of Waitangi and New Zealand History, Auckland: Oxford University Press, 2003; Michael Belgrave, Merata Kawharu & David Williams, (eds.), Waitangi Revisited: Perspectives on the Treaty of Waitangi, Auckland: Oxford University Press, 2004; Michael Belgrave, Historical Frictions: Maori Claims and Reinvented Histories, Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2005; Mathew Palmer, The Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand Law and Constitution, Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2009. 2 Letter, Canadian Official Historian Col C.P. Stacey to Kippenberger, 19 January 1956, IA1 181/3/2, NA; Letter, British Official War Historian Brig. Harry Latham to Kippenberger, 19 August 1955, IA1 181/3/3 part III, NA. 3 Memo, Walter Nash, Acting Prime Minister, to W.E. Perry, Minister of Internal Affairs, 26 April 1945, IA1 181/5, NA; see also Letter, Maj Gen Sir Howard Kippenberger to Prime Minister Peter Fraser, 9 January 1947, IA1 181/5, NA. 1 F97CF8X4 C:&9K195@5B8XGD5FH=7=D5H=CB=BH<9+97CB8/CF@8/5F ,<9HCD=7GG9@97H98:CF the volumes T campaigns, service and unit histories, logistics, political context, civilian participation, three volumes of primary documents and a further 24 short booklets covering specific services or events T were aimed at attaining the most comprehensive coverage possible. The amassing and evaluating of such a wealth of primary material led to a number of historiographical challenges and positioned the Histories as a significant test of empirical historical method as it was emerging in New Zealand at that time. Against this empirical mandate, however, were the clear social imperatives of recognition and honour. For a nation rebuilding after the disruption of war there was the need for a degree of historical cohesion, a collective understanding of effort expended by both those who went to war and those who contributed from home, and a means of rationalising the events which had defined a generation. Gathering material and planning for the Histories had begun as early as 1942 and the Branch itself commenced work in 1946. Its Histories drew heavily on the testimonies of those who had participated in the campaigns and, in the unit histories particularly, undertook to provide an explanation of the events and conditions surrounding the deaths of many comrades and family members to those still coming to terms with their loss. In this way, as well as being definitive factual accounts for readers in the future, the Histories upheld a responsibility to those in the present.