Pages tagged with: oral history

Nearly one and half million people spent the Second World War at home in New Zealand. For most, life changed: families and relationships were disrupted, government directives controlled people’s lives and, for many, there was the constant threat of terrible loss.

'A lot of English people, I think, were not accepted as well as they might have been because they themselves tended to think anything that was in New Zealand that was different to what they had been used to was by definition worse...'

Hear Jim Blundell recall the German air attack on his convoy

Hear Reg Minter discussing his experiences at Trieste during the Second World War

Hear Allan Wyllie recall the sinking of the Limerick in 1943

Hear John Montgomery describe how he got a job on the Aquitania.

Hear Reg Minter discussing his experiences at Faenza during the Italian campaign of the Second World War

Hear Joseph Bacos speaking about his time at Orsogna during the Italian campaign of the Second World War

Able Seaman Joseph Pedersen, RNZN 2337, joined the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in 1940. In 1942 he was posted to the destroyer, HMS Lookout on which he served in the Mediterranean and in the Allied invasion of Sicily in September 1943 as he describes here.

Hear Les Watson talk about the food and accommodation aboard the Raranga.

Private Reg Minter's first real time in action was at Cassino in March 1944. Here he remembers that time

Gunner Gordon Johnston talks about the Div's first action in Italy at the Sangro River.

Information about the From Memory oral history project, including advice on how to interview war veterans

Oral history is a method of gathering information. It is the sound or video recording of an interview with someone who speaks from personal experience about a subject of historical interest.

Blowers are an example of the ingenuity of prisoners of war. Made from bits and pieces that the men found in their camps, they were used for heating up food.

To record oral history you will need to use the best quality equipment you can buy, borrow or hire. Poor sound recordings will be of little use to researchers in the future. Good quality analogue and digital equipment are both suitable for oral history.

Never go to record an oral history interview without a preliminary meeting with your interviewee. It is essential that you have told your interviewee enough to enable them to make an informed decision as to whether or not they wish to be interviewed.

Advice and suggestions for planning and carrying out the oral history interview

You may want to interview war veterans but not know any in your family or community. If this is the case, you could approach your local RSA and ask them if you can put a notice in their newsletter or on a bulletin board to seek veterans willing to talk about their wartime experiences.