WAR HISTORY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26367, 23 January 1947, Page 4

WAR HISTORY

DOMINION’S EFFORT MUCH PRELIMINARY WORK EMPHASIS ON ACCURACY Dally Times Special Service CHRISTCHURCT, Jan. 22. The collection of material and the final presentation of the New Zealand war histqry was an involved task, apd much preliminary work remained to be done even now, before it was possible to start the actual writing of the histories, said the editor-in-chief of the War History branch of the Internal Affairs Department (Majorgeneral H. K. Kippenberger) last evening. The history would be a story of New Zealand’s war effort as a whole and included not only actual fighting by organised New Zealand formations, but also steps taken at home for the successful prosecution of the war, the part played by forces fighting alongside with, or under the command of New Zealand forces, and actions in which New Zealanders were involved. “ In nearly every action fought during the recent war there were Ne # w Zealanders involved somewhere,” said Major-general Kippenberger, "and it is necessary for us to secure information about the parts played by the New Zealanders concerned to present to the public as part of the war history.” Before the histories could be written it was necessary in many cases to secure the British, Australian, South African or American narrative of an action. It was also hoped to secure much information referring to New Zealanders from German documents which were captured at the end of the war in Europe. Documents had been captured in Greece and Crete which gave accounts of the fighting in those places; but these were incomplete. In later campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and Italy, little was known about German intelligence. The captured documents were at present being translated at the War Office in London, and. it would be some time before those in which'New Zealand was interested became available. Secret Orders Available All secret orders, whether issued by' the Government or by naval,-army, or air force authorities, had been placed at the disposal of the branch so that matters of interest would not be omitted. Lieutenant-general Sir Bernard Freyberg’s despatches and orders were available; files concerning the war from the Prime Minister’s Department and all documents from Government departments relevant to the war effort were open, for perusal; and any matters considered of sufficient importance would be included in the volumes. Later there would probably be negotiations with Governments of other countries about securing documents which referred to actions fought by New Zealanders, or which referred to the war effort of New Zealand. It was difficult to • get suitable maps, Major-general Kippenberger said. Some stories about actions could not be written until maps were secured—it would be almost impossible to explain an action without a map as a guide. The part played by New Zealand during the war had been important, and was equal, in scale, to that of Russia, or any other large State. Majorgeneral Kippenberger said. The decision to go to war had-been decided by the New Zealand Government, the country had mobilised its own forces, it had trained its forces, appointed the commanders of its forces, and had decided where the forces would fight. It had mobilised man-power for the fighting fronts, and also for a total war effort on the industrial front in New Zealand. The Government had conducted negotiations with other States regarding the prosecution of the war, and had been represented at trade and peace conferences. New Zealand during the years 1939-45 was a country at war, playing its part to the full in the successful prosecution of total war. Collection of Information All information would" be collected and written in narrative form before an official volume was written, Majorgeneral Kippenberger said. Some authors had already been appointed. By having different authors for each volume it was hoped to cut down the time it would take to present the history to the public. This method was also being followed in some other countries. It had been found, when the Australian history of the 1914-13 war had been written, that with only one author the work took too long. That particular history had taken 25 years to complete. Unit histories would be writen in addition to the official history, said Major-general Kippenberger, but these would largely be the work of unit committees working under the direction of the War Hisory branch. A popular history was also planned; but this would not be written until thp official history had been completed Popular histories would tell the story of mobilisation, training, escapes from prison camps, and perhaps the lighter side of life in the armed forces. It was possible that the first official history, that on Greece, would be published at the end of 1948 or early in 1949, said Major-general Kippenberger. Other volumes would be completed later; but he would not hazard a guess when they were all likely to be completed. At present the War History branch had a staff of 40, which included narrative writers, clerks, typists, and draughtsmen. All information had to ,be sorted correctly and checked, and placed in narrative form before a volumne would be written. Emphasis was laid on accuracy and fact, and it was not intended to write anything into the history which would be open to question.