Facing the Cost

High explosive shells, machine guns, poisonous gas and other weapons inflicted devastating injuries on participants in the First World War. New Zealand forces suffered high casualty rates with huge numbers also brought down by disease and illness. Peace did not end the suffering as many more died from the influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918.

Grim companions to the legions of sick and wounded were the numbers of soldiers permanently disfigured and disabled. Efforts at rehabilitation were basic at first, but improvements were made in the provision of artificial limbs, specialist treatment and convalescence. Facilities were created to assist disabled soldiers in the United Kingdom and back in New Zealand, but the physical damage and psychological strain suffered by these men made it extremely hard to fit back into society.

The cost of the Great War was catastrophic for New Zealand. From a population in 1914 of just over 1 million, 124,000 were mobilised with 100,444 serving overseas. Official figures were 18,166 dead with over 41,000 wounded, but many survivors returned home physically and mentally scarred for life. Only by making sense of the conflict could society give some meaning to the loss of life and some comfort to the families of those killed and maimed. Surrounding the deaths with sacrificial and heroic language meant the reality of death was softened. The dead became the 'Fallen' or the 'Glorious Dead' who willingly made the 'Supreme Sacrifice' for 'King and Country', 'the Empire' or freedom. The churches played a crucial role in this, having previously endorsed the war they now tried to make sense of the death and suffering (91% of New Zealanders identified themselves as Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists or Catholics in 1916). Memorial services, and Anzac Day services, were a way of helping individuals, families and communities mourn publicly. With their reverential music, hushed tones, patriotic hymns and sanctifying language, they contributed to the growing mythology surrounding the war. The rhetoric and mythology that developed around death in World War One showed how deeply scarred New Zealand society was by this experience. Returned soldiers who knew the reality of fighting, dying and death found it almost impossible to question this growing mythology.

Coming home to resume civilian life, few soldiers were willing to talk of their wartime experiences. Memories of the full extent of the horror and tragedy that New Zealanders experienced in the Great War were not kept alive in New Zealand in the years following the war. There was a ‘suppressive reflex’, an almost unconscious need to repress the pain and play down the unacceptable reality of war. The memory of pain and loss was suppressed so well that when the Second World War erupted just 20 years later, New Zealanders again raced to the recruiting offices.