Frozen moments tell tale of bravery
MILITARY HISTORIAN GLYN HARPER and his wife Susan Lemish have collected more than 800 photographs and created a landmark book exploring New Zealand's World War II effort. Many of the photographs were taken on the front line from personal cameras, often smuggled in (including photos taken in POW camps). The Front Line covers every battle and theatre in which New Zealanders fought. Harper answers questions:
What stands out most for you about this book?
The range and quality of the photographs we were able to find: from a Nazi victory parade in Warsaw in 1939, with Adolf Hitler centre-stage, to a New Zealand warship taking part in the last bombardment of the Japanese coastline.
What can images of war convey that words cannot?
There is some truth in the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”. The images in this book have a power and an immediacy that is difficult to express in words. We quote from the late Sir Richard Holmes in the book that “somehow it is the photograph that freezes the moment for posterity”.
You must have seen a lot of photos in your research, what were you looking for in particular?
We looked at just over 30,000 images for this book. We placed a premium on live action shots and wanted to give equal weighting to the efforts of our soldiers, sailors and airmen. We were also well aware of the important roles New Zealand women performed in the war and we wanted to make sure this was reflected in the book.
Were there any images that were a particular surprise?
There were a couple of things that caught us by surprise. One was the large number of German photographs that featured in New Zealand collections. Another surprise was the collections of photographs by New Zealand Prisoners of War. As cameras were forbidden or strictly controlled in Prisoner of War camps, we did not expect to find as many as we did.
If you had to pick one, what is your favourite photograph from the book?
There are many interesting images, but the live-action photographs really stand out. One of my favourites is the image of a German plane on fire having been hit by New Zealand anti-aircraft gunners. Susan's favourite is the one of a Fleet Air Arm pilot who has mistimed his landing at sea and crashed into the water. The photograph captures his look of shock and fear as his plane hits the water.
This book tells the story of all three forces. Was it difficult to find material related to the Navy and Air Force?
These parts of New Zealand's Second World War have often been neglected. We were spoilt for choice when it came to selecting the photographs for these sections.