Museum trip

We went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum today! We had an awesome time learning about World War 1 and 2.

Posing in front of a WW1 canon.

Another big canon.

The War Memorial Museum is very special because it remembers the soldiers that died in all the wars. The museum is 86 years old this year. The design of the building is special because it looks like a Greek temple. An Auckland company won a competition to design the museum. It is one of the most famous historical buildings in New Zealand, and is protected.

The Auckland Museum is an important War Memorial.

Aaron really enjoyed learning about the animals that went to the war. He learned that pigeons and dogs carried little messages in small containers around their necks and legs. Donkeys helped carry sick soldiers to the nurses at the tent hospitals. Animals were very important in the war time. The most important animals in the war were horses. They carried soldiers to the battle. The other interesting thing Aaron saw was Uncle Norman's name engraved on the World War 1 Wall of Honour.

Pigeons carried messages for soldiers during the war.

The WW1 Trooper display.

Lorin liked the Gallipoli Minecraft game because it had battleships, huts and trenches from Anzac Cove. He was surprised that there was a lot of greenery around before the battle. There were even poppies on the pennisula! Lorin found it a bit hard to learn how to manage the controls but if he practices again he knows that will get better.

Trying to figure out the controls to play Minecraft.

Bella also loved playing Minecraft at the Museum. She found it fun to wear special 3D goggles and experience life in the trenches. Seeing warships was interesting for Bella too because she could go inside them. She was surprised to see that soldiers slept in beds and hammocks! Something else that Bella enjoyed was seeing the trench where a soldier was waiting in his dugout. She was surprised at how dirty it was to be in a trench.

Playing the 3D version of Minecraft.

A soldier in his dugout ready for attack.

Joe liked going to the Museum because he learnt about the weapons that were used. They used rifles and machine guns. The army officers had swords on the rifles called a bayonette. He thinks they are interesting because they are really long. They would be quite heavy to carry and soldiers would have to be very careful not to hurt themselves with the knife!

Mr Limbrick tells us about the importance of wearing body armour.

Playing Gallipoli Minecraft.

Rafa enjoyed everything! He said, "When I saw the German gunner above the trench I was trying to duck, so he couldn't shoot me!" Rafa explained that soldiers need protective vests to protect them from being shot. He learnt that the helmets in World War 1 were not very good because they were made of leather. This meant that bullets could go right through them! Rafa was also interested in the guns that could move around because they were attached to the top of a tripod.

Checking out the Japanese Zero from WW2.

Fascination with the workings of a Spitfire.

When the students saw all the names on the wall of honour they went very quiet, because they were surprised by the number of people who died in World War 1. They were also interested to learn that some nurses names are also listed there.

The names of some of the New Zealand nurses who lost their lives during WW1.

Going to the museum was a memorable and rewarding experience. Thank you Mrs Edwards, Mr Limbrick and Doug for accompanying us on the trip!

Bombs were shot from the wings of the Spitfire during WW2.

Mr Limbrick enjoyed a game of Minecraft too!

Finding things on our scavenger hunt.

Flight Lieutenant Nick's visit

We had an amazing time this morning learning about the Defence Forces with Nick, a Flight Lieutenant with the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Nick asked us what we knew about the Air Force. 

• Ivo - To be in the Air Force you need to have your eyes tested. 
• Lorin - The Air Force fights in the air. 
• Rafa – I’ve been learning about the Red Baron. He was the best fighter until he died.
• Aaron - They fix planes.

Nick told us that the Air Force also help a lot of people who suffer during natural disasters, such as earthquakes. For example, after the earthquakes in Christchurch, the Air Force loaded up planes with food, and took people there to help. Sometimes the Air Force go and help people in other countries like the Pacific Islands after a natural disaster. Lorin was interested to know if the New Zealand Air Force helped after the earthquakes in Nepal. Nick explained that the Defence Forces of other countries closer to Nepal were sent in to help, but this time, the New Zealanders were not needed.

Nick told us that another important role of the Defence Forces is their work to prevent other wars from happening. He said that they also do a lot of training so that they are ready in case a war begins.

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We watched an interesting video about all aspects of the Defence Forces. We especially enjoyed learning about how the Hercules is loaded, and how supplies can be dispached from the plane with a parachute attached. Another fascinating thing for us was seeing some special forces soldiers practicing a surprise attack from a moving helicopter. One other point of interest was finding out that the Defence Forces get involved in search and rescue missions at sea. 

We learnt today that the Air Force uses several different types of aircraft, the Hercules (to transport equipment and people), the Orions (for surveillance) and the Boeing 757s (to transport soldiers). There is a kiwi symbol on all New Zealand Air Force aircraft.

Nick is an aircraft engineer. He fixes the components of the aeroplanes, such as the wheels, tyres, and seats. His job is to make sure that the plane is ready to take off for its mission. 

All those working in the Defence Forces have a rank. Nick showed us the bands on the sleeve of his uniform and explained that they signify his rank as a Flight Lieutenant. If he doesn't wear his jacket, people can still tell his rank from his epaulets. Nick told us that it has taken him six years to earn his current rank.

We looked at Nick's medal. It is engraved with his name, rank and service number. It is called a Defence Service Medal. The symbols on it are the New Zealand Coat of Arms, and also a silver fern with the symbol of the Defence Force.

The special badge on the cap is the Royal New Zealand Air Force badge. 

Nick made this paper plane. It is a model of the hercules aircraft that the Air Force uses to transport equipment and some people. We are going to make a model at home too!

At the end of the session Nick surprised us by giving each of us a cap, drink bottle and stickers. 

We were so surprised and excited to receive gifts from Nick today!

Here are our highlights of our session with Nick:

Ivo – I liked watching the video. It was interesting.

Bella – I learnt what the army does.

Rafa – I liked seeing the pictures and the model plane.

Lorin – I learnt that tanks are big and can go in shallow water. Five people can fit inside them.

Joe – I learnt about the ranks in the Air Force.

Aaron – I learnt about the plane with the camera which is used for looking for people lost in the water.

Thank you Nick, for coming to talk with us today. We had a great time!

Lorin showed us his World War 2 model aeroplane. We think it is pretty cool!

More learning about the aircraft of WW1

Rafael and Ivo brought model planes to show us today. We learnt that none of their models were used during World War 1. After looking at the symbols on the aircraft we worked out if they belonged to America, Germany or France. We will need to find out what symbol is in New Zealand's Air Force planes.

Today we learnt about German airships and how they were used over London during the war. We were intrigued by the massive aircraft and wanted to know what they were made out of. It was also interesting to find out that it took two years for the British to find a way to shoot down the airships.

 

 We finished off our little model planes then zoomed off to have a mock dogfight with each other!

Hearing about Wellington's War Exhibition

Mrs Howard took the Stepping Up session today. She showed us photos from her trip to see the War Exhibitions in Wellington. We were very interested to look at the pictures and hear the stories about them. 

Learning about WW1 aircraft

We are fascinated to watch a video about what dogfights are. When we first heard the word 'dogfight' we never thought it meant planes having a battle in the sky!

Here is one of the rules for a successful dogfight - secure the upper hand before attacking. We learnt that this means we should make sure our plane is in the better position before shooting them. It is also best to shoot an enemy plane from behind, in close range. This is so we don't waste ammunition. 

Watching pilots load bombs onto the racks underneath a plane was interesting! Some bombs were also placed inside the cockpit of the plane. The bombs looked funny because they had little wings on one end. Some bombs looked heavy with several people lifting them into position. Others seemed to be much lighter. 

We started to make a model World War 1 plane. We folded the parts together and glued the wings in place. Next week we will finish our project and fly our little planes!

Sharing with the group

Rafael was excited to show us the model plane he made with his dad. 

Bella worked out how long World War 1 was by punching in 1918, the year the war ended minus 1914, the year the war began. The answer she got was 4. 

Aircraft of World War 1

We are exploring the aircraft used during World War 1. Click the links below to find more information.

Doug shares about his experiences as a peacekeeper

We learnt a lot today from Doug who is a retired Flight Seargent in the Air Force.

Doug told us about his experiences fixing helicopters for a combined Australia and New Zealand peacekeeping force in the Sinai Peninsular. He said that they were ANZACs, but not the original ANZACs. 

 Doug brought in his medals to show us which ones he earned while on peacekeeping duties. When Rafael looked at the medals closely he noticed that Doug's name and military number were engraved around the edges of the medals!

It was interesting for us to learn about helicopters! Doug showed us several pictures of helicopters that he used to fix. Peacekeeping helicopters are painted in contrast to choppers that are used in warfare. This is to make them distinctive in order that both sides of the conflict know they are neutral. We noticed from Doug's photos that the peacekeeping helicopters don't have doors! We also learnt that the sound that comes from the helicopters is not from the engine but rather from the spinning of the rotor blades which break the sound barrier!

We saw a photo of Doug when he was fixing a helicopter. He was wearing his Air Force uniform. We noticed that his rank was shown by the chevrons on his sleeve. Each rank has a different pattern. Doug said that the ranks in the military is similar to how schools are organised with beginning teachers, registered teachers, head teachers, deputy principals, and principals.

Here are the main points we learnt today:

Ivo - We learnt that Doug fixed helicopters in different countries. He was working in the Sinai desert.

Bella - Doug showed us his medals for being a peacekeeper. We got to hold the medals!

Aaron - Doug said that the helicopters were painted white so that everyone could see that it was a peacekeeping helicopter. War helicopters are painted with camouflage.

Lorin - Doug told us that a helicopter can shoot torpedos. If the torpedos hit something they would blow up. I think that we don't use torpedos anymore because they might blow up a floating city.

Joe - Doug told us about the chevron markings on his uniform. He had two. Chevrons tell us the rank. There are lots of ranks in the military.

Rafael - There are little names on the edges of medals. The name of the person that earned the medals is engraved there, along with their rank and military number. Every medal is for something different, for example, one of Doug's medals was for being a peacekeeper.

Rewarded for bravery

Lorin's family have recently discovered a special photo of their relative Lieutenant Colonal Victor Joseph Tanner, known as Joe, receiving a medal from General Freyburg for bravery. This happened in Italy during World War II.

Uplifting the Field of Remembrance

We had a very special job to do today. It was to uplift the Field of Rembrance. We carefully lifted each cross out of the ground and stored them all away for the next remembrance event. 

Our Anzac Day Highlights

Bella went to a Dawn Anzac Service at a cemetery. She saw some soldiers with guns. The soldiers stood very still around the cenotaph and crowds and crowds of people gathered around it. She said, "I felt happy at the ceremony because I saw soldiers that had came back from war and young soldiers who are going to go to the war."

Ivo went to the Auckland Museum Dawn Parade and saw lots of soldiers. He told us, "There were Army, Navy and Air Force soldiers. There were helicopters that sounded like machine guns. There was bagpiping and The Last Post was played. When it was played the flags were lowered to half mast. It was really dark at the start when we arrived at 5:30pm. The museum had red lights shining on it. The sky started to get lighter. We sang the New Zealand national anthem and the Australian anthem too."

Aaron went to the New Lynn Anzac ceremony and saw some soldiers marching and some bands. He explained, "There were some soldiers on a truck with some army medals. There were people holding some flags. I saw some Australian flags and New Zealand flags. Anzac Day was special for me because there were soldiers that came back from the war and didn't die."

Rafael went to the Anzac parade in New Lynn. He got an ANZAC100 book. A young soldier gave it to him. He said, "I was sitting on my dad's shoulders when I was watching the Anzac parade. There was like this red truck which had seats on the back. People were sitting on it. There were loud bands that hurt my ears. It was nice and cool to watch the parade."

Lorin made some big posters showing the whole story of how the ANZACs went to Gallipoli. He explained the pictures to us. "Firstly the soldiers went to Egypt then they sailed to Gallipoli on a troopship. Hurt soldiers were lifted up onto the troopships by a special crane because they could not climb up the ladder."

Joe went with his family to a Glen Eden War Cemetery for the Anzac Service. He saw some flags. Some were from people who were not in the war. Some Scouts were holding flags. Some soldiers sang songs and everyone sang the national anthem in Maori and English. He explained, "We went to the RSA afterwards for morning tea. There were some real swords and guns up on the wall."