National Army Museum (New Zealand)

National Army Museum (New Zealand)
Waiouru Army Museum

The National Army Museum (Maori - Te Mata Toa) is the museum of the New Zealand Army. It was formerly known as the Queen Elizabeth II Army Memorial Museum[1]. It is situated 94 minutes south of Taupo on State Highway One,[2] on the southern side of the small military town of Waiouru. The 1300 square metre museum is fortress-looking in design, complete with a bridge and moat. It took the 2nd Field Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Engineers (RNZE) 276 days to build,[3] and was opened in October 1978.[1][4]

According to the museum's literature,[1] it functions as a memorial to those who have fallen, to those who have served and are still serving, and to the battles fought by New Zealand soldiers. It is also a research, teaching and training facility of New Zealand's military history. Associated literature[5] reveals "the museum serves as a place of connection between visitors and the nation's military past, a place where people can engage with real life stories and experiences and discover how these conflicts have shaped the nation".

The museum offers a number of facilities and experiences which include a gift shop, the Rations Cafe, the Kippenberger Research Library, and the Tears on Greenstone Memorial. On display are many and varied collections, including weapons, war memborilia, military vehicles, exhibitions of battles (which mark anniversaries important in New Zealand's military history), a huge medal collection exhibiting medals associated with New Zealand and its army, and life-like displays of twelve of the biggest campaigns that New Zealand troops have been involved in. "Kidz headquarters" provides children with fun learning activities.[1]

Contents

Tears on Greenstone

The Tears on Greenstone or Roimata Pounamu[6] is a large wall made of greenstone. It serves as a memorial for the 30,000 plus service men and women who have sacrificed their lives for their country. The water cascading down the southern hemisphere's largest greenstone structure represents the tears of endless mourning, and is accompanied by an audio system reciting the names of the fallen.[1][6] There is a touch screen near the Memorial where visitors can search for names of people lost in battle and hear those names read aloud.[6]

Kippenberger Research Library

The Kippenberger Research Library houses a number of collections relating to New Zealand’s military history.[1] The library, which is open to the public and free of charge, is named after Major General Sir Howard Karl Kippenberger, a military leader and historian who served in both World Wars. His extensive study of past campaigns aided his ability to command New Zealand troops in many great battles.[7] A large military library owned by Major General Kippenberger was purchased by the New Zealand Army in 1958 and is now housed within the Kippenberger Research Library itself. The library was opened on 24 March 1995 by Kippenberger's daughter, Mary Weston.[3]

Medals

On display within the museum is a large collection of medals associated with the army. These include medals donated, loaned and others acquired from the families of those who served overseas.[1] The museum offers five permanent displays including: British Campaign and General Service Medals; Campaign and General Service Medals awarded to New Zealanders; United Nations and Commemorative Medals; Foreign Medals and Meritorious Service, Long Service, Efficient Service Decorations and Medals Orders, Decorations and Medals.[1] They also have temporary displays which are changed regularly to display different family donated medals.[1]

Medal theft

The Museum had a number of Victoria Crosses on display in the Valour Alcove of the Lower Gallery. On 2 December 2007, 96 medals were stolen from locked, reinforced glass cabinets in the museum. On 16 February 2008, New Zealand Police announced that all of the medals had been recovered as a result of a NZ$300,000 reward offered by British medal collector Lord Michael Ashcroft and Nelson businessman Tom Sturgess, a former United States marine.[8][9]

The medals stolen included nine Victoria Crosses:[10]

BL 5.5 inch Medium Guns at the entrance to the QEII Army Memorial Museum

Also stolen were two George Crosses:

and an Albert Medal:

  • Randolph Ridling.[12]

It appears that the museum was previously holding 13 VCs, of which 2, those of Charles Upham and Percy Valentine Storkey, were on loan. There were 4 VCs left behind:

See also

References

A Centurion tank displayed in front of the QEII Army Memorial Museum
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i National Army Museum, www.armymuseum.co.nz Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  2. ^ Ruapehu towns: Waiouru. New Zealand Travel. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  3. ^ a b Background History of the Army Museum Waiouru 30 Years On. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  4. ^ Chamberlain, H. E. (1973). A brief chronology of the history of the Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers / prepared at the School of Military Engineering; for the Museum of the Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers. Linton, New Zealand: School of Military Engineering.
  5. ^ Wolfe, R. (2007). With honour: Our army, our nation, our history. North Shore, New Zealand: Viking.
  6. ^ a b c Tears on Greenstone. New Zealand Army. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
  7. ^ Harper, Glyn. "Kippenberger, Howard Karl 1897 - 1957". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5k11. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  8. ^ Stolen War Medals Recovered, NZ Police press release, 16 Feb 2008. Retrieved on 2009-03-24.
  9. ^ "Medals stolen from Waiouru Army Museum recovered". The New Zealand Herald. NZPA. 16 February 2008. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10492853. Retrieved 27 October 2011. 
  10. ^ "History of honour for recipients of stolen VCs". NZPA. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4307013a11.html. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 
  11. ^ Statement regarding theft of medals, NZ Defence Force media statement, 2 Dec 2007. Retrieved on 2009-03-23.
  12. ^ "Army medal theft 'insult' to our nation's heritage". New Zealand Herald. 2 December 2007. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10479634. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 

External links

Video

Coordinates: 39°28′49″S 175°40′09″E / 39.4804°S 175.6691°E / -39.4804; 175.6691


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • National Army Museum — Coordinates: 51°29′10″N 0°09′36″W / 51.486111°N 0.16°W / 51.486111; 0.16 …   Wikipedia

  • National War Memorial (New Zealand) — National War Memorial New Zealand The dedication o …   Wikipedia

  • New Zealand Army — Ngāti Tumatauenga Active 1845 – present Country …   Wikipedia

  • New Zealand–United States relations — New Zealand–American relations United States …   Wikipedia

  • New Zealand Defence College — Established 1950 Type Military college Undergraduates Diploma of Arts, Postgraduates Master of Arts (Defence and Strategic Studies) Location …   Wikipedia

  • New Zealand official war artists — are those whose artwork becomes a part of the record of New Zealander s lives during times of war. In New Zealand, the title of appointed war artist changed to army artist after the two world wars.[1] Some were soldier artists whose sketches and… …   Wikipedia

  • New Zealand — New Zealander. /zee leuhnd/ a country in the S Pacific, SE of Australia, consisting of North Island, South Island, and adjacent small islands: a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. 3,587,275; 103,416 sq. mi. (267,845 sq. km). Cap.: Wellington …   Universalium

  • New Zealand wars — New Zealand Land Wars Memorial in the Auckland War Memorial Museum for those who died, both European and Māori, in the New Zealand Wars. Kia mate toa can be translated as fight unto death or be strong in death , and is the motto of the …   Wikipedia

  • New Zealand — This article is about the country. For other uses, see New Zealand (disambiguation). NZ redirects here. For other uses, see NZ (disambiguation). New Zealand Aotearoa …   Wikipedia

  • Military history of New Zealand — Flag of New Zealand …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”