The Gunners

by Alan Henderson, David Green, Peter Cooke

Gunners boast the longest uninterrupted history of any military unit in the New Zealand army. Commissioned by Defence, this handsomely illustrated work covers the experiences of the New Zealand gunners from the nineteenth-century, through two world wars, Korea and Vietnam to today's focus on UN peacekeeping duties. Wherever the New Zealand Army fought, the artillery corps provided vital fire support to infantry and other arms, and the text emphasizes the importance of the unit to the country's war effort as a whole. The book describes the shift from a purely coastal defence to the provision of an expeditionary force for overseas service, the professional hardcore, the part-time citizen-soldier and the increasing technical sophistication of gunners and their weaponry. The realities of war - tedious, tragic and comical - are enlivened by meticulous research and the memories of many individuals.

320 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2007