Pages tagged with: oral history

Hear Harry Bioletti talk about his experiences in the Pacific war

Hear Peter Renshaw talk about his experiences in the war in the Pacific during the Second World War

Hear Noel Rosoman talk about his experiences in the Pacific war

Hear John McKay talk about his experiences during the Second World War

Hear Ian Newlands talk about his experiences in the Pacific during  the Second World War

'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 former merchant seaman Jim Blundell describe VJ Day celebrations

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

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

Eleanor Fraser served in the Women's War Service Auxiliary as a Tui in the New Zealand Forces Club in Cairo. She left for Egypt in September 1941 with 29 other young women with whom she would work in the club, behind one of the counters supplying refreshments to the troops on leave. Here she describes the routine of the club

Hear George Mackay discussing his experiences at Cairo during the Second World War

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 Dan Bashall reflect on some of his wartime experiences

Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence Wright was a doctor in the Medical Corps. At Gerawla he helped set up the hospital, but was also sports officer, responsible for making a rugby field as he describes here

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

O'Brien Reeve travelled from New Zealand to England as a volunteer for the Royal Navy.

Jim Barclay fought with the 27 Machine Gun Battalion all through the North African campaign. Here he recalls going to the pictures at the infamous Shafto's cinema at Maadi Camp.

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 William Duncan talking about food in POW camps

Bert Dyson was a lieutenant in 4 Field Regiment. In this extract from his interview he describes transporting ammunition up to the troops for the planned counter-attack on Maleme airfield on Day 3 of the battle, 22 May 1941.

2nd Lieutenant Peter Wildey of 7 Field Company describes shooting at German gliders and killing and taking equipment from paratroopers. He also describes several other incidents during the retreat to Sfakia.

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.

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

Hear Eric Osboldstone discussing his experiences in Japanses POW camps

Lance Corporal Allan Robinson describes a German attack on a hospital and how patients and staff were taken prisoner and then were made to act as human shields between the Germans and the Allied troops, with tragic consequences

2nd Lieutenant Peter Wildey of 7 Field Company describes shooting at German gliders and killing and taking equipment from paratroopers. He also describes several other incidents during the retreat to Sfakia.

nd Lieutenant Peter Wildey of 7 Field Company describes shooting at German gliders and killing and taking equipment from paratroopers. He also describes several other incidents during the retreat to Sfakia.

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.

New Zealanders who served in the Pacific War had diverse experiences. They were involved in fighting in the jungle, some spent time in Japanese prisoner of war camps, others took part in air raids or manned ships, while others played a vital support role.

One hundred and forty thousand New Zealanders served overseas in the Second World War as soldiers, airmen, sailors and nurses.

Advice on what to do with an interview after recording it

Suggested questions for oral history interviews with veterans of the Greece/Crete campaign

It is vital that oral history recordings are of the best possible quality, and equipment is a major factor in ensuring this.

Questions for oral history interviews with veterans of the North African campaign

Questions for oral history interviews with veterans of the Italy campaign

Questions and background information for interviewing war veterans of the Pacific Theatre in the Second World War

The men taken prisoner by the Germans at Sfakia were marched back over the White Mountains to a prison camp near Canea. It was hot and they were suffering the effects of lack of food and water. Conditions at the camp were very poor.

Dewi Browne was born in Wanganui in 1920 and went to sea on merchant ships in 1937. In 1944 he joined a small hospital ship, the Lady Connaught, which was sent to support the Allied landings at Normandy.

Advice and suggested questions for interviewing veterans who were prisoners of war

Advice and suggested questions for interviewing Royal Navy and Royal Air Force veterans

Advice and suggested questions for seafarers from the Second World War

Stanley Herbert describes aspects of daily life on the battlefield during the Passchendaele offensive.

Sidney Stanfield describes being a stretcher-bearer at Passchendaele and witnessing the awful experiences of men who were injured and dying.

Bert Stokes describes the awful, muddy conditions at Passchendaele and the fear he felt there.

Royal Air Force Spitfire pilot, Philip Stewart, from Wanganui, describes how he went about destroying enemy trains and other vehicles.

Private Denis Sampson served with the 6 Field Ambulance. Here he describes what it was like to be in the British 7 General Hospital at the time of the initial German attack It was quite a thing, you know, to hear that the Germans were actually arriving.

Two Second World War POWs remember forced marches

Lieutenant Haddon Donald of 22 Battalion was one of the men defending Maleme airfield on 20 May 1941. Here he describes the day's fighting, and his involvement in a counter-attack against German troops near the Tavronitis River.