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Around 100,000 out of a potential pool of 243,376 men of military age served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War, representing around 10% of the entire population of the country. During the war the Expeditionary Force served in the Pacific, at Gallipoli, in the Middle East and on the Western Front, so there is certainly plenty of ground to cover. During this period the New Zealand force earned a reputation as a very high quality fighting unit.
The author has packed lots of information into his forty eight pages, covering the recruitment, officers, campaigns, equipment and organization of the New Zealand army of the First World War. Very few words are wasted in the text, so an impressive amount of information is provided. The text is supported by the usual high number of photographs, with an impressive selection of contemporary pictures. There is also a good section of colour plates showing the evolution of the New Zealand uniform, and an interesting plate showing various identification badges.
This is one of my favourite entries in the Men-at-arms series, showing that one can indeed provide a great deal of useful information in a book of this size. It does help that the New Zealand Expeditionary Force was a comparatively small army, eventually consisting of one infantry division in France and a mounted rifle brigade fighting in the Middle East, allowing the author to focus on these specific formations.
Chapters
Commanders
Organization
Campaigns
Uniforms & Insignia
Weapons & Equipment
Author: Wayne Stack
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 48
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2011