Wednesday 1 June 2011

Auckland

As a coda to my Flagstaff War posts I thought I would post about the other military exhibits I saw in NZ in February. I first visited the Auckland War Memorial Museum a couple of years ago but I forgot my camera. This time I had a morning to spend wandering around whilst the Kiwi caught up with friends in the park outside. The top floor of the museum is concerned with the country's military history, from the 1820s to modern deployments. The quality of the displays is very high and there are also research areas which have always been busy when I have visited. someone asked about the model of Ruapekapeka I featured in an earlier post. That model is in this museum.

Some WW1 propaganda stuff:



The NZ Mounted Rifles in Palestine and a Hotchkiss machine gun:



"Pelorus Jack" was the mascot of HMS New Zealand during WW1. The ship was built by New Zealand for service in the Royal Navy in defence of the Empire, and was present at Jutland. Unfortunately Pelorus Jack fell down the forward funnel one day and was declared dead from the navy on 24 April 1916. His will requested that his successor be "a bull pup of honest parentage, clean habits and moral tendencies." His will further requested that "no Dachshund or other dog of Teutonic extraction" be allowed on board". On the right is a WW1 4.5 inch howitzer.




Two exhibits from the WW2 Crete display. On the right are "Cretan winged daggers".




A 25-pounder used at Cassino and the inner workings of a Spitfire:



Finally, Hugo conveys his thoughts on the exhibits and some Maori weapons:



On a side note, Blogger seems to be malfunctioning again and I can't leave comments on other blogs. From perusing other sites it appears that I'm not alone. So apologies to all those who have posted recently and on whose blogs I haven't posted comments - please blame Blogger.

7 comments:

Mericánach said...

Looks like you had a great trip.

Particularly enjoyed seeing the pic of the Hotchkiss - thanks for posting it.

Christopher(aka Axebreaker) said...

Great looking museum and it seems we were both visiting some this week. Your child looks well and relaxed which is nice.

Christopher

Ray Rousell said...

Poor Pelorus Jack!! Great photos and info.

Iowa Grognard said...

Perhaps Hugo is taking some mental notes for a future Christmas wish list.

Dear Santa,
Remember that 25 pounder I saw when I was...


As far as leaving comments goes. I was having a terrible time until I read that you have to change your settings for third party cookies in order to post some places. I don't know how secure this is, but it worked for me.

Doc said...

Looks like a great museum Giles and I see little Hugo appreciates his dad taking him to it! Get 'em while their young I say. My 13 year old has no interest in wargaming now but still asks his dad to take him to the War Memorial every year. Its always a great father-son day. And by doing so extra brownie points are earned by allowing our Other Halfs to have free time to catch up with friends etc. Its a win-win!

Cheers,
Doc

Anonymous said...

Excellent pictures!

Do you know if any more memorabilia from HMS New Zealand was preserved? Specifically the grass skirt and pendant her captain wore in action and the special wheel that was shipped?

Fire at Will said...

Interesting collection.

I'm currently using Google Chrome and comments seem to work fine compared to when I use Internet Explorer.