First World War 1914 to 1918

Explore our resources on the First World War, 1914 to 1918.

First World War resources

First World War digital collection
Our digitised First World War resources includes diaries, letters, booklets, and memorabilia.

First World War service personnel
To mark the centenary of the First World War, the New Zealand Government launched WW100 which ran from 2014 to 2018. As part of this programme, staff of Christchurch City Libraries researched the lives of military service personnel who had links to their area. Explore the lives of soldiers, sailors, pilots, and nurses with connections to Christchurch who served in the First World War.

New Zealanders in First World War
A guide to finding information about the men and women who served in the New Zealand armed forces during the First World War.

World War 1914 – 1918
Search our catalogue for items about New Zealand’s involvement in this war.

First World War photographs
Search our catalogue for photographs from the First World War.

Our WW100 teaching resource is aimed at teachers and students.

First World War images
A Flickr set of our First World War images including postcards and photographs.

First World War posts on the library blog.

First World War eResources

The following eResources contain useful First World War information, including primary sources:

• Biography in context
• Biography Reference Center
• History Reference Center
• National Geographic Virtual Library
• Papers Past (historical New Zealand newspapers)
• World History in context
• Newspaper and Magazine Archives
• Reference: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries and General Resources

First World War topics

Pasifika involvement in the First World War

• Fiji
• Niue
• Rarotonga
• Samoa
• Tonga

Sgt. Henry Nicholas V.C. M.M.
Christchurch’s only World War 1 V.C. recipient.

Passchendaele
In July 1917 the Battle of Passchendaele began on the Western Front with horrific loss of New Zealand lives.

Armistice Day
The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front in 1918, with the signing of the Armistice.

Anzac Day - 25 April
Our backgrounder about New Zealand’s national holiday to commemorate New Zealanders killed in war and to honour returned servicemen and women.

1918 influenza epidemic
How Christchurch coped during the world-wide epidemic.

Booklists

• First World War fiction for young adults
• First World War fiction for children
• New Zealanders in the First World War - medals
• First World War - Conscription and Conscientious Objectors booklist
• First World War uniforms, equipment and medals
• First World War classics
• New Zealanders and the Western Front
• Gallipoli
• General histories of the First World War
• Māori in the First World War
• Pacific Islanders of the First World War
• New Zealand nurses in the First World War

First World War images

A Flickr set of our First World War images including postcards and photographs.