On My Way to the Somme: New Zealanders and the bloody offensive of 1916.

• Author: Crawford, John
• Position: Brief article - Book review

ON MY WAY TO THE SOMME: New Zealanders and the bloody offensive of 1916

Author: Andrew MacDonald Published by: HarperCollins Publishers, Auckland, 2005, 355pp, $35.

Since the publication of Stewart's official history and the various histories of units of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force before the Second World War, little of any substance has been written about the New Zealand Division's role in the huge Allied offensive on the Somme in 1916.

On My Way to the Somme is essentially a soldiers' eye view of the New Zealand Division's operations during September and October 1916. In particular, MacDonald concentrates on the experiences of the New Zealand infantry and somewhat neglects the crucial role of the New Zealand gunners. The author's decision to relegate his account of their service on the Somme after the withdrawal of the rest of the division to an appendix is particularly odd. The book relies heavily on the diaries and...