World War I (1914 - 1918)
Over 100 000 New Zealanders served in World War I, often referred to as the Great War. Over 18 000 New Zealanders lost their lives.
Special Collections in the Central Library holds war diaries, letters and postcards from this period, as well as maps of battlefields and images of soldiers taken before they went to war by Auckland studio photographer Hermann Schmidt.
New Zealand casualties are commemorated at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, while copies of service records may be obtained from New Zealand Defence Force personnel records. The BBC History website has useful details about the war. New Zealand campaign histories and regimental history can be found at the NZ Electronic Text Center (NZeTC).
Looking for books on the topic? Search under the subject heading: World War 1914 - 1918 in the catalogue.
World War II (1939 - 1945)
New Zealanders were involved both on the home front and the theatres of war in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East or the Pacific.
The official New Zealand war histories have the advantage of being based on both archival documents and the recent memories of those who served in World War II, but were written some years ago. We also hold hard copy versions of most.
For these and other books on particular battles, biographies and personal reminiscences, or general overviews of the New Zealand military, search under World War 1939 - 1945 on the library catalogue.