World War, 1914-1918 - Censorship

Date: 11 December 1914

Reference: MS-Papers-11742

Description: Folder contains postcard sent to Miss Beryl Gudgeon, 39 Beach Road, Devonport, Auckland during World War One by Charles Ormonde Butler. Postcard shows a colour drawing of 'Canal Mahmoudieh a Alexandria' with a boat in the foreground. The postcard is signed 'Ormonde' and the text of the postcard mentions training in Alexandria, censorship restrictions being removed, and promises a letter ready for the next mail. Source of title - Supplied by Library Quantity: 1 folder(s) containing 1 postcard. 0.01 Linear Metres. Physical Description: Mss Provenance: Donor/Lender/Vendor - Purchased from Complete Stamp Company, May 2014

Date: 1914 - 1918

From: Robley, Horatio Gordon, 1840-1930 :Over 4 years episodes of the war (and during armistice) by Major General H G Robley. [ca 1920]

Reference: E-024-f-1-004

Description: Head and shoulder frontal views of two English soldiers in conversation Quantity: 1 drawing(s). Physical Description: Pen, ink and wash on postcard, 343 x 240 mm

Date: 1914 - 1918

From: Robley, Horatio Gordon, 1840-1930 :Episodes of the Great War. 1914-1928

Reference: E-024-f-2-009

Description: Head and shoulder frontal views of two English soldiers in conversation A newsclipping further down the page is headed '630,000,000 letters censored', and refers to a large number of registered and unregistered packets and letters being 'released by the British military authorities' at the end of the war. Other versions of this drawing are numbered -004 in albums E-024-q and E-024-q-1 Quantity: 1 drawing(s). Physical Description: Pen, ink and wash on postcard, 343 x 240 mm

Date: 5 Oct 1914-6 Apr 1915

From: Malone, William George (Lieutenant-Colonel), 1859-1915 : Diaries and letters

Reference: MSX-2550

Description: Army correspondence book records notes to Officer Commander (O/C), B Company, 5 Oct 1914. Notes on a military exercise in Karori, Wellington in early Oct 1914 including sketch maps. Letters start 7 Feb 1915 from Kubri, Egypt to his military commanders. Also weekly military reports and letters home to family and friends in New Zealand from Zeitoun Camp. Note on 8 Apr 1915 acknowledging a censor's stamp for the Wellington Battalion of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, NZ and A Division. Last letter of volume on page 97 to Lady Godley regarding the care of the sick soldier "Gordon", written in Zeitoun Camp, 13 Mar 1915. Published as No better death: the great war diaries and letters of William G Malone : edited by John Crawford with Peter Cooke. (Auckland : Reed Books, 2005) Quantity: 1 volume(s) (98 pages). Physical Description: Holograph, carbon copy pages (19 cm, Army correspondence book) Volume includes ink sketches Processing information: Digitisation details - Part of WW100 digitisation project. 60 digitised pages. Pages 50 and 51 include original and carbon copy pages. Some pages have been removed throughout the volume.

Date: 1915-1918

From: Henson, Joseph Herbert Hasard, fl 1915 : Diaries and letters/transcribed by Dion G Minhinnick

Reference: MSDL-2184

Description: Comprises electronic transcriptions by Dion G Minhinnick of the outward letters and postcards of Corporal Joseph Herbert Hasard Henson (7th Platoon, B Company, Wellington Infantry Battalion Wellington West Coast Regiment, 2nd Reinforcements, First NZEF, 10/3292). Letters home are addressed to Nellie, his sister, his Mother, Herbert Henson, his father. Commences with account of life at Trentham and Tauherenikau Camps, shooting practice, concerts, training marches. Gives account of voyage onboard (HMNZT 14) 'Willochra' via Hobart and the Red Sea, arriving in Egypt. Describes life at Zeitoun Camp and sightseeing in Cairo between Dec 1915 to February 1916. Letters recommence from May 1916 in France with descriptions of routine in the trenches, the signal station, and the army magazines 'Fragments from France" and 'More Ditto" by Captain Bairnsfather. Covers leave in Oban, Scotland, July 1917, battalion school training signallers in Belgium, concerts, mail, marching and war action. Talks about Christmas 1917, Chinese labour battalions in Flanders March 1918, leave in Scotland August 1918 and return to France Sept 1918. Letter on 9 November 1917 details long marches, pill boxes, damage at Ypres, and leave in Paris. Last letter dated 14 December 1918, sent from Antheit village, Belgium, describing destruction of the area. Common topics of note include getting mail, family at home, photographing his experiences, the locals, censorship of letters, his army pay and role, refugees, and meeting men from New Zealand. Arrangement: Letters and postcards are not arranged chronologically within electronic documents Quantity: 4 Electronic document(s). Processing information: Digitisation details - Part of WW100 digitisation project.

Date: 31 Dec 1915 - 14 Mar 1916

From: Gray, Randolph Norman, 1891-1936: Papers relating to World War One

Reference: MSX-9369

Description: Letter book by Gray providing detailed descriptions of life stationed in a military camp at Heliopolis in Egypt. Gray utilises his letter books like a journal, keeping the top copy intact, while the carbon copy is sent back home to his family in New Zealand. He is very aware of the fact that his writing would have to be passed by military censor, and in fact some passages were redacted, so these letter book top copies represent a more complete record of his accounts. Having studied law in New Zealand and worked as a law clerk before enlisting, he records some of his reflections on martial law in practice, especially the impact of punishment as a deterrent factor, in the interests of maintaining discipline. For example in recording an incident of the death sentence being carried out, he writes 'Something appeared in orders today which I wish to permanently record. It may be deleted by the censor on your carbon copy, but I will have it in my book.' (page 15). Includes descriptions by Gray, who is also an amateur photographer, of the conditions under which photographs were taken and the suitability of the weather and light for this pursuit, including the challenges associated with changing a roll of film while seated on the back of a camel. In describing the visit to a mosque, for example, he writes, 'Went through the Citadel Mosque, it is the best mosque here, & very wonderful. The alabaster walls, & the hanging lamps, are almost unique I think. I secured several photos of the courtyard, but the interior was too dark, even for time exposures.' (page 25). Publication - Selected letters and diary entry accounts from this collection have been published. See "'The Great Adventure': The letters of Randolph Norman Gray, 3/893", in: Jock Phillips, Nicholas Boyack and E. P. Malone (eds), The great adventure: New Zealand soldiers describe the First World War (Wellington: Allen & Unwin, 1988) pp 69-110. Relationship complexity - Photocopied typescript transcriptions of most of the manuscript texts found in the letter books are held in MS-Papers-4134 Quantity: 1 volume(s). Physical Description: Mss, letter book, 50 numbered leaves of ruled paper, sewn binding, paper covers, 16.5 x 11 cm