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A Fair Sort of Battering

(Paperback)


Publishing Details

Full Title:

A Fair Sort of Battering

Contributors:

By (Author) Megan Hutching

ISBN:

9781869507855

Publisher:

HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand)

Imprint:

HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand)

Publication Date:

19th May 2009

Country:

New Zealand

Classifications

Readership:

General

Fiction/Non-fiction:

Non Fiction

Other Subjects:

Second World War
Modern warfare
Battles and campaigns
Land forces and warfare

Dewey:

940.54215

Physical Properties

Physical Format:

Paperback

Number of Pages:

288

Dimensions:

Width 158mm, Height 236mm, Spine 19mm

Weight:

467g

Description

The New Zealand Division landed in Italy in October 1943 and entered the line at the Sangro River on 14 November. They fought up the east side of Italy, becoming bogged down at Orsogna for two months, from where they were withdrawn in January 1944. They then swapped coasts and moved across the Apennines to the west side of the country where they came to a screeching halt at Cassino. Three hard-fought battles took place here before the New Zealanders could move past and on to Rome and almost as far as Florence. The Division was then transferred across the country again and began the long hard slog over rivers and through river valleys up the east until finally reaching Trieste in May 1945. It was unpleasant fighting and a great contrast to the desert war. Here it was cold and wet and it snowed. But there were also compensations - many of the men got on well with the Italian people, who most greeted them with great enthusiasm. This book tells the story of those who participated in the campaign - infantry (including 28 Maori Battalion), engineers, artillery, a nurse and a Tui (New Zealand women who worked in the New Zealand Club in Egypt and Italy) and hopefully Air force and Navy interviewees so that the sample is as wide as possible.

Author Bio

Megan Hutching has produced six books of oral histories of the Second World War, in the New Zealanders Remember series, including most recently, Last Line of Defence: New Zealanders Remember the War at Home. Her first major piece of research was on women opposed to war in New Zealand in the early twentieth century, and this sparked her abiding interest in writing about the extraordinary lives of ordinary women.

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