Great War Stories

One hundred years ago New Zealanders travelled across the globe to fight in World War One. This exhibition tells some of the many powerful and diverse stories from the ‘Great War’ through objects and memories contributed by the Rotorua community.

We will remember them - Ka maumahara tonu tātau ki a rātou

From 1914-1918 World War One saw the death of millions and left the world a radically different place - its impacts rippled throughout communities and across generations. Six out of every ten men who went to war died or were wounded. Over the four years of the war 18,000 New Zealanders lost their lives and a further 42,000 were wounded at such infamous battles as Gallipoli, Passchendaele and on the Western Front.

As part of New Zealand’s one hundred year commemorations of World War One, Great War Stories reflects on these sacrifices and the wider impacts of the war through stories and treasures shared by Rotorua families.

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.” Robert Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen (excerpt), 1914.

Great War Stories is on at Rotorua Museum from 2 July to 23 November 2014. Entry is included with Museum admission. Adults $20, seniors $18 and children $8. Entry for Rotorua residents is free with appropriate ID.

Image credit: Horace Taylor, Mounted Rifleman (detail), about 1914. Photographer unknown, courtesy of Kay Taylor

Image credit: WWI diary and photograph. Courtesy of Pamela Lovis