Stories of global conflict and war can be much more complicated than they seem in public memorials. While "for King and Country" was a common refrain in the run up to WW2 in New Zealand there was a group of people for whom the phrase had a very different meaning.
For the Irish citizens who came to Aotearoa after WW1 it seemed like an escape from British imperialism. But all of a sudden in 1941 conscription appeared and everything changed. New Zealand journalist and author Peter Burke has published a new book True to Ireland tracking the experience of the NZ Irish community during the 1940s.
A newspaper clipping from 1941 in New Zealand from True to Ireland by Peter Burke Photo: Peter Burke
