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Kiwi of the Week

Bernard Freyberg

A First World War hero and commander of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Bernard Freyberg was British-born but New Zealand-raised. He proved to be a charismatic and popular military leader who would later serve a term as Governor-General

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Today in History

29 August

1914 NZ force captures German Samoa

Colonel Robert Logan led a 1374-strong expeditionary force to capture German Samoa (afterwards renamed Western Samoa). The 80 Germans stationed there were in no position to offer resistance.

On 6 August, shortly after the outbreak of war, the British informed the New Zealand government that the capture of German Samoa would be a 'great and urgent Imperial service'. The wireless station was protected by a German-officered constabulary of around 50 men. This was no match for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) which achieved its objective without resistance. This was the second German territory, after Togoland in Africa, to fall to the Allies in the First World War.

New Zealand administered the islands for the remainder of the war. From 1920 to 1962 New Zealand administered Western Samoa under mandates from the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations (UN).