Syrians

Date: 1941 to 1942

From: New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency

By: McIntyre, Peter, 1910-1995

Reference: PA1-q-297

Description: Photographs of New Zealand military personnel serving in the Middle East and England during World War 2, 1939-1945, taken by various photographers and compiled for official purposes. Many individuals identified in the album are listed above. Scenes include physical training at the School of Instruction, Maadi Camp; reproductions of paintings by war artist Peter McIntyre (p 1-2, 93); scenes with His Excellency the Governor-General of NZ, Sir Cyril Newall, visiting Samoa and Fiji in 1942 (p 2-7); New Zealand members of ski units including members of the Maori Battalion at the Ninth Army Ski School in Syria; NZEF and Red Cross distribution of flour to Syrian people; parade through Aleppo. Officers, nursing sisters and Lady Freyberg at Anzac Day service at Maadi Camp in 1942; the visit of the NZ High Commissioner to a "west coast port", William Jordan and officers of NZ ships; arrival of pilots and observers for the RAF; scenes with King George VI & Queen Elizabeth visiting RAF Bomber Command, and the King watching landing exercises in Scotland. New Zealanders after withdrawing from the Libyan engagement; engineers constructing roads, lines of communication and supply in Transjordan; working with Arabs, reconstructing ancient wells; NZers in Amman. Group of NZers at Rouen sent back to Germany when arrangement with German authorities for mutual repatriation of prisoners broke down; NZ medical personnel repatriated from Italy to the Middle East under the Geneva Convention (many named); the Duke of Gloucester visiting the NZ camp at Maadi; locomotives being unlaoded on lighters and NZ engineers in their living quarters on the lighters at a Syrian port. The Pacific War Council in the Cabinet Room at the White House. Entertainment and sport for NZ troops in the Middle East included cricket, racing, bathing in the Dead Sea, boxing and wrestling championships. Campaign against malaria, widening and deepening drains; participation at the Western desert battle front; Visit of a party of NZers to a bandit stronghold in Syra (p 62-64); Sergeant James Allen Ward's VC with illustrations (p 71-72); Winston Churchill visiting NZers in the Western Desert (p 77-80, 82); the Alamein front; the NZ General Hospital at Beirut in Syria housed in former French barracks (p 86-90). A studio party in New York for Unted Servicement; a New York Bond Party; and later, a group of NZers in New York. RNZAF training in Canada (group portrait); NZers in North Western Alaska, and a group of wireless operators in Canada. Recipients of awards (named above); Kiwi Concert Party. Pursuit of the Axis Forces and war material abandoned by Germans and Italians (p 104-125); advance to Tripoli (p 128-138). Quantity: 1 album(s) Album(s). Physical Description: Album with faded blue cover, black corners and spine; 34.5 x 22 cm

Date: 29 Apr 1942

From: New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency

By: Elias, M D, active 1943

Reference: DA-02458-F

Description: A crowd of Syrian women and children during the distribution of flour organised by New Zealand troops in combination with the American Red Cross in Syria during World War II. Photograph taken on 29 April 1942 by M D Elias. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative

Date: 30 Apr 1942

From: New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency

Reference: DA-02467-F

Description: A Syrian family resting by the roadside during World War II. Photograph taken on 30 April 1942 by H Paton. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative

Date: 26 May 1942

From: New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency

By: Paton, Harold Gear, 1919-2010

Reference: DA-02505-F

Description: A member of NZ Divisional Cavalry demonstrates rugby football to Syrian tribesmen during a visit to villagers in the Syrian hills in World War II. Photograph taken on 26 May 1942 by H Paton. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative

Date: 26 May 1942

From: New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency

By: Paton, Harold Gear, 1919-2010

Reference: DA-02507-F

Description: Long jump contest between officers of the NZ Divisional Cavalry and Syrian tribesmen, during a visit to villagers in the Syrian hills in World War II. Photograph taken on 26 May 1942 by H Paton. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative

Date: [ca 26 May 1942]

From: New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency

By: Paton, Harold Gear, 1919-2010

Reference: DA-02506-F

Description: New Zealand World War 2 soldiers from Divisional Cavalry playing rugby with Syrian tribesmen at a mountain village in Syria. Photograph taken by Harold Gear Paton circa 26 May 1942. Other - Note on back of DA file print reads: "Officers and NCO's of NZ Div Cav visit a native village in the mountains of Syria. This tribe is said to have wiped out a whole company of French troops who attempted a punitive expedition against them before the war." Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Film negative

Date: 26 May 1942

From: New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency

By: Paton, Harold Gear, 1919-2010

Reference: DA-02502-F

Description: Officers and NCOs of NZ Divisional Cavalry with male Syrians during a visit to villagers in the Syrian hills during World War II. This tribe is said to have wiped out an entire company of French soldiers which attempted a punitive expedition prior to the war. Photograph taken on 26 May 1942 by H Paton. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative