From our Reading Room
Remembering the Fallen: War Graves Week, 2021
This week is War Graves Week, a celebration of the amazing work done by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) in preserving the graves and memorials of service people around the world. The burial and commemoration of the dead of both world wars was a massive undertaking and their continued care by the Commission is a worldwide venture.
Read MoreCataloguing our Archives: Preparing for Research in the Future
From 1 May 2021, the Research Team will be suspending our free enquiry service until the end of the year. We think it is important to explain why we are taking this step and what we will be doing during this period.
Read More‘Through Adversity to the Stars’
In this guest blog, Otago University postgraduate student Stacey Fraser discusses her experience using the Air Force Museum of New Zealand archives for her research into the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.
Read More“Send for the Artist…” by Paul Harrison with Maurice Conly
Wing Commander Maurice Conly was the first and only official artist appointed by the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and we hold much of his work in our collection. “Send for the Artist…” is his story, as narrated to and written by Squadron Leader Paul Harrison, RNZAF. “Send for the Artist…” Maurice Conly: 54…
Read MoreMore than a library
In the latest From the Reading Room blog, join us for a behind the scenes look at the Air Force Museum’s research facility, learn about its history, and find out how our archive is used by staff and researchers alike. Holding what is probably the largest collection of First World War aviation books in…
Read MoreWomen at War by D.O.W. Hall
This year’s 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Aotearoa has got us thinking about the influence gender equality has had on women serving in the New Zealand Armed Forces. Louisa Hormann of the Research Team discusses Women at War by D.O.W. Hall, and military roles for women in wartime New Zealand. New Zealand in the…
Read MoreI Would Not Step Back by Hilary Pedersen and associated writers
“I Would Not Step Back…” by Hilary Pedersen et al., Phil Lamason Heritage Centre Trust (Dannevirke) 2017. ‘The wagon was jammed with 96 men, a number which, in the height of summer, and the only ventilation about a 2sq foot window, appeared disastrous. But I managed to exert some authority, and like a chess board…
Read MoreThe Flyer by Martin Francis
The Flyer: British Culture and the Royal Air Force 1939–1945 by Martin Francis, Oxford University Press (New York) 2008. Re-reading the RAF: cultural imaginings of the flyer The flyer – dashing youth, fortune hunter, chivalrous adventurer, city destroyer and defender. Given the popular appeal and significant wartime role of the RAF flyer between 1939 and…
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