Missing, believed stolen
gunfire in cramped trenches and the materials have been vastly researched by historians since 1988.
Words of these men have appeared in books written by Liddle and New Zealand historian Christopher Pugsley, among others.
Of the New Zealand Anzac Collection only 13 of the 71 items are noted on the digital collection as having research correspondence attached, 24 say they were placed by family or the owner and 34 either do not specify or note it as not being available.
In 2016 a Nelson woman, Margaret Kearns, replied to a request from New Zealand Society of Genealogists to tell war stories. They’re a group that set up, operate and maintain a library of genealogies and related books, documents and digital items to encourage the preservation of records of historical value.
The move was part of centenary commemorations to help New Zealanders access stories from key moments in its young history.
Kearns’ father, Hartley Palmer, fought at Gallipoli. He wrote of his experiences in a diary but he knew it all by heart.
His family understood the personal account was lost when the diary was loaned to the British historian in 1974 and never returned.
It took 40 years to find but the genealogist group, based in Nelson, discovered the diary had been included in the Liddle collection at Leeds University. Palmer wouldn’t live long enough to find out: he died in 1987, aged 96.
Kearns says it became a race to have the diary returned, her brothers were in their 90s and frail, but that Leeds University had not shown any desire to give the diaries back.
At least she said, she learnt much about her father’s time at war after reading the digital copy of his diary for the first time last year.
‘‘He [Hartley] agreed to participate [in Liddle’s research campaign] and drove to Blenheim for a meeting, taking his diary with him and loaning it to Peter Liddle. He did not expect it to be taken to England. The family wrote letters asking for its return, as well as to Liddle.’’
Leeds University refused to send the diary back to NZ but settled to photograph each of the 130 pages which has since been digitised, transcribed and bound in copies.
After Kearns went public with her family’s story a few months ago, other descendants of WWI soldiers, who had contact with Liddle, came forward with concerns.
Whanganui man Darryl Annear’s grandfather was Albert Frederick Cooper, a private of the Wellington Battalion. Annear had a similar recollection of facts.
He understood his uncle loaned his grandfather’s diary to Liddle but it was never returned.
Leeds University hold 22 letters written to Cooper’s sister Eleanor, his Gallipoli diary and pay book.
Sunday News traced the descendents of another Anzac, H.N. Berry, to Ruakaka, in Northland.
Grandson Bob Mumford remembers a flag he hung on his wall as a seven-year-old child. It was one of the only items he had of his grandfathers.
‘‘It’s rather tatty, but it’s got all of his campaigns marked on it.’’ He says it was ‘‘absolutely amazing’’ to learn his grandfather had a diary. He never knew Berry had written one.
‘‘I’ve never known a lot. It wasn’t spoken about in those days. He did collect quite a lot of memorabilia.’’
He says most of the items he