Niue and the Great War

[Extract] Whenever I talk to European or American audiences about Australia’s or New Zealand's involvement in the First World War, they always seem surprised. Most do not realize that two nations so far away in the Antipodes were involved in the conflict. They are also surprised to hear how strongly the war features in the nations’ histories and national identities. Even less known, including in Australia and New Zealand, is the First World War history of the Pacific island of Niue. Despite its remoteness and tiny population, 160 Niuean men enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. They were all volunteers, all men, and represented a cross-section of Niuean society. Yet, their war had tragic outcomes, and not for the same reasons as for the majority of men and women who served from other parts of the world. It is this history that Margaret Pointer reconstructs effectively in Niue and the Great War, chronicling the movements, ailments, culture shocks, deaths, returns and memorializations of the First World War for Niue.