Influenza at Featherston military camp

Barracks at Featherston Military Camp, c. 1918.

The 1918 influenza virus proved most deadly among young men, such as those in military camps. Approximately two=thirds of all Europeans who died were male, with those aged 30–34 the worst-affected. Influenza historian Geoffrey Rice suggests that this may have been because many men never caught the mild first wave of the flu. He also notes that men were more likely to develop pneumonic complications, because unlike their wives or children, who could go to bed, they had to ‘soldier on′ as the breadwinners of the family.

See also Featherston camp death register