Peter Jackson’s Military Treasures
A new documentary called Peter Jackson’s Military Treasures, now available on the Forces News YouTube channel, gives viewers exclusive access to the Oscarwinning director’s unrivalled collection of World War I planes and memorabilia, and the story of how this passion evolved.
When talking about his collection Peter Jackson said, “Because of my day job making films, I ended up with the resources of being able to do this. I keep my eye out, and if there’s something interesting, I try to buy it. Some people might say it’s got out of control, I’d say it’s evolved.”
Some of his planes can’t be found anywhere else. Others he has re-created from scratch, using 100-year-old engineering techniques and the original plans. Of his collection he said, “You strap yourself into one of these planes and take off, at that point, nothing else in the world really matters.”
The programme takes the viewer to Peter Jackson’s factory in Wellington, New Zealand, where he works with his team on restoring and making the WWI aircraft, as well as uncovering the source of Peter’s lifelong interest. His parents were both British, his father William served in the British Army, and his mother Joan worked in an aircraft factory during WWII.
He said, “I grew up surrounded by veterans of two world wars, so the sort of the things that I was exposed to and listened to and the conversations that happened in our house when Dad would have friends over was all geared towards the war really.”
The young Peter Jackson enjoyed making model planes.
And these models became the focus of his very first foray into film. 40 years later, his success as a filmmaker has allowed him to build up a vast hoard of war memorabilia which is revealed by Forces News in Peter Jackson’s Military Treasures. ■