We are at war with Germany 1939

[30sqnatc]

nzhistory.govt.nz/new-zealand-declares-war-on-germany

At 1.55 a.m. on 4 September the governor-general, Viscount Galway, cabled the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in London to advise that ‘the existence of a state of war with Germany has accordingly been proclaimed in New Zealand

[chbessexboy]

Did NZ form a coalition government during the war years?

[Dave Homewood]

No coalition, however as well as the normal Labour Cabinet, the government formed a separate War Cabinet in April 1940 that had MP's from both parties represented. They were:

Prime Minister Peter Fraser
Minister of Finance Walter Nash
Minister of Defence Fred Jones
National Party leader Adam Hamilton
Former Prime Minister Gordon Coates (National)

Sidney Holland replaced Hamilton as National Party leader in November 1940, and he joined the War Cabinet in 1942.

However Holland disagreed with the government on a number of issues and left the War Cabinet after a few months in protest at what he considered lenient treatment of striking Huntly coal miners.

[Dave Homewood]

I posted this yesterday to Facebook:

Eighty Two years ago tonight New Zealand's acting Prime Minister Peter Fraser declared war on Germany, aligning New Zealand alongside Britain, France and Australia, following Germany's refusal to withdraw their troops from Poland. Thus began the Second World War.

World War Two touched the lives of every New Zealander. New Zealand's population in September 1939 stood at around 1.6 million people.

Around 104,000 Kiwis served in the New Zealand Army.

Around 42,000 Kiwis served in the RNZAF and other Air Forces

Around 10,000 Kiwis served in the RNZN and RNZNVR, including the Fleet Air Arm. Additionally many hundreds more served in the Merchant Navy.

All the RNZAF and RNZN/RN members were volunteers, as were a large proportion of the Army.

Kiwis served on every front, France and Britain in 1940, North Africa and the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Italy, Russia, the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Arctic convoys, Burma and India, Singapore and Malaya, and in Canada and the USA.

11,928 New Zealanders died in the conflict in total.

3,687 of those who died were RNZAF personnel, most attached to the RAF

561 New Zealanders died during World War II while in naval service, mainly with the Royal Navy.

164 New Zealanders died in the service of the Merchant Navy.

This may seem a small number considering the war's total death toll, between 50 and 60 million. But that was actually 1 in every 150 New Zealanders died in WWII.

Many more were wounded physically and mentally.

May we never forget their sacrifices, and also the sacrifices of those who were at home in New Zealand, in their hundreds of thousands, working for the war effort on farms, in factories, and in the Home Guard, EPS and other organisations.

Lest We Forget.