The mystery of how a giant flag that flew at Gallipoli a century ago came to hang in a New Zealand church has been solved by a naval historian. A report in the Herald told the story of the white ensign from HMS Queen that hangs in a corner of the Christchurch Cathedral in Nelson. Read more
Posts Tagged ‘WWI’
Petone priest became a WWI chaplain who inspired many
Tuesday, March 24th, 2015Father James Joseph McMenamin paid the ultimate sacrifice as a Catholic chaplain to the Armed Forces in the Great War. He endured the dreadful conditions to give spiritual aid to the New Zealanders. Chaplain captain McMenamin landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915 to serve at the frontline. Later he went to the Western Front. Read more
Gallipoli and the Armenian genocide
Friday, November 7th, 2014
A century ago, in a misconceived encounter on the history-soaked precipices of Asia Minor, the sons of Anzac received their battle initiation against the German-trained forces of the Ottoman Empire. Now, in an annual event that grows in mythology and status in proportion to the passing of the years, is celebrated the shared combat ordeal Read more
Pope Benedict XV and World War One
Friday, September 5th, 2014
A century ago, on 3 September 1914, a month after the outbreak of World War One, Giacomo Della Chiesa was elected Pope. He tried to stop the war but in vain. The first public speech Pope Benedict XV gave after the Conclave which elected him as Pius X’s successor on 3 September, marked the start Read more
Why the First World War?
Friday, August 8th, 2014
Even historians still cannot agree on how the First World War began, writes Conor Mulvagh of the School of History and Archives at University College Dublin. They can broadly agree on what factors were involved but ascribing relative importance to a myriad of long-term and more immediate causal factors has kept academics, veterans, and politicians Read more
Pope Benedict XV, WWI and the pursuit of peace
Friday, July 25th, 2014
Pope Benedict XV was archbishop of Bologna, Italy, in June 1914 when the pistol shots of a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo murdered Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, and echoed throughout the world. On Aug. 20, 1914, with World War I less than a month old, Pope Pius X died, and on Sept. Read more
Bishop Cleary – courage under fire in France
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
A small bronze crucifix welded from World War I rifle bullet cartridges stands as a testament to the bravery and selflessness shown by an Auckland bishop who tried to rescue the wounded on the fields of France. The crucifix belonged to Bishop Henry Cleary, the Catholic Bishop of Auckland from 1910 to 1929, who took Read more
Getting personal with Anzac Day
Friday, April 27th, 2012
This gets personal. In fact, should I even be saying all this to people I have never met? What do I say? How far do I go? These are things I never talk about with strangers. Anzac Day is one of those mysterious days. We know the meaning, only what is the meaning precisely? I Read more