Cue (NZERS)

Cue started in June 1944 as an information bulletin for all units of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2nd NZEF) during World War II. It was published fortnightly by the Education and Rehabilitation Services (ERS) who were initially based in Santo Spirito, Italy. The ERS moved to Mola di Bari in April 1945 and Florence in November 1945, following the NZEF as they fought their way up the Italian peninsula.

In its first issue it outlined the definition of Cue in the Oxford Dictionary as ‘a hint or example of how to proceed’ (15 June 1944: 1). Their aim was to provide officers with ‘hints and examples of how to proceed in supplying mental ‘ammunition’ for your men’ (15 June 1944: 1). It provided information and data of interest to New Zealand troops that could be discussed within groups with the guidance of an officer. These groups were instructed to be informal and to not to be a lecture, leaving the majority of time for group discussion. Topics of military matters and politics at home were to be generally side-stepped.

After the first issue, reports indicated that there was increasing enthusiasm among troops over expressing their views within these discussion groups. It also grew in page numbers, even with war time paper shortages, from the original 16 pages to peaking at 48 pages by the end.

The first editor of Cue was Sergeant Tom Mahony of the Napier Daily Telegraph and the first two covers were drawn by Neville Colvin who went on to become a regular editorial cartoonist for the Evening Post between 1946-1956 and was known for his war time solider characters Johnny Enzed and Fred Clueless. Covers from issue number 3 to issue number 25 were illustrated by Sergeant Charlie Corneal.

According to its final issue, ‘in thirty-seven appearances it has produced approximately half-a-millions words of information, news and reading material, illustrated by more than a thousand drawings of a wide variety of types’ (15 December 1945: 1). While Cue ceased publishing in December 1945, the occasion was celebrated as the reason behind stopping publication was that the bulk of the remaining New Zealand troops in Italy were being shipped home, and ‘Cue, along with the rest of 2 NZEF, goes out of business’ (15 December 1945: 1).