Learning through photographs

Miss Bland visited the war exhibitions in Wellington during the holidays and she showed us the pictures she took. We really enjoyed looking at the photos of these huge models of our ANZAC soldiers-

We would love to visit this exhibition too so we can see it for ourselves! We will write a letter to Mr Limbrick to see if we can have permission to go on a Stepping Up trip to Wellington sometime soon. 

We were interested in the photo of a German field gun that some ANZACs captured in the war. It must have been quite an important gun to capture because someone brought it back to New Zealand after the war as a trophy!

This gun is now displayed next to the War Memorial in Waipawa. 

Something else that was intriguing for us today were these certificates that were given to Miss Bland's great uncle when he was discharged from army service. We noticed that the drawings were highly detailed and that both included the image of a lion. 

We learnt that the lion in the picture represents Great Britain, and the cubs, her allies. New Zealand, Australia, Canada, India... are all symbolized by the cubs. We noticed that the lion has caught something and killed it. We figured out that the eagle must be the symbol of Germany and its allies. 

More research

During part three of our research project we discovered a few intriguing details about the person we are studying.

Lorin's research

Warner Knight went to war in 1918. He was sent to Egypt and arrived a few weeks after the war ended, so he never saw combat. After the war he returned to his wife on their farm. 

Aaron's research

Norman Astridge was sent to Egypt as a trooper. He was stationed in the Canal Zone. On the twelfth day there Norman was killed by a bomb explosion.

Joe's research

We found out that Thomas Smith was a baker on Auckland's North Shore before the war, and served as a baker during his time in Europe too. While in Egypt, Thomas' job was driving. His right eye was not as strong as his left eye. He was a short guy. He served a total of 4 years and 94 days overseas. Thomas's name is on the Oddfellows Roll of Honour currently in the Devonport Museum. 

Ivo's research

After reading through the medical report for Ivo Harrison we found out the he had brown eyes and blue hair! The doctor making the report must have made a mistake!! 

Poor Ivo Harrison had measles before leaving for the war. He was sent to Gallipoli but was very weak and didn't eat much. He managed to stay there for six weeks before being taken away to hospital where he deteriorated. He was sent back to New Zealand by ship but died on the journey back home.