Todays offering

Craftsmen in uniform

The Corps of Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers : an account

by Peter Irwin Cape

"An account of the origins and some of the adventures of the body of men that repair and service the electrical and mechanical equipment of the NZ Army. It was conceived early in 1942, underwent its gestation during the desparate battles that raged in North Africa during that war, and was finally delivered from its parent, the NZ Ordnance Corps in Egypt on 1 December 1942. Christened the NZEME it played no small part in sustaining 2 NZ Division during the pursuit to Runisia and the campaign in Italy. It has since been accorded the distinction and dignity of the title RNZEME, and its members have continued to serve their sovereign in every clime where the NZ Army has subsequently campaigned."

I could take a fair guess that nobody else reading this has a copy on their bookshelf!

Todays NZ book

Tararua, the story of a mountain range by Chris Maclean.

Of particular interest to those who have tramped and hunted in these hill and to those who live in their shadow.

Full of photographs and illustrations old and new, the history of this range is told- exploration, adventure, trailblazing and hut-building.

I love the tales of how REAL men and women dressed in wool and oilskin cut the tracks and built the hut in the spirit of our pioneer past before these days of the DOC nancy's choppering up prefabricated motel units!!

Another offering from my bookshelves

Requiem for a Gasworks

by John S. Pollard

A fascinating read about the history of the Christchurch gasworks and the people who made this misfit work- against all the odds.

A tale to horrify a greenie or an OSH inspector, this book covers an area mostly overlooked by NZ historians- our early utilities. While many have covered rural life, few have said much about life inside the factories or the 'Dark, Satanic Mills' of the early last century.

I remember the fuming, stinking monster from my early days in Christchurch and later as I excavated trenches in the city streets- the smell from leaking gas pipes still permeated the soil many years after the works demise.

A must read for the enthusiast of past ways of life.

Todays NZ Book

Shooting From The Lip- Lee Hughes

All he wanted was a snappy uniform, a girlfriend and a sports car.

There are easier ways than joining the NZ Army as an officer cadet, but he was young...

A candid tale of life in the NZ Army during the seventies & eighties. Definetly not the story the brass would like published, as the exploits of young blokes with excessive sex drives, fueled with cheap alcohol and testosterone are exposed.

As one who was there then- I have met the author and knew many of the characters in this book- I can vouch for its authenticity- although a few legends have been added to the true accounts!

I'm not revealing which is which- you try and figure that one out!

A time now gone

Jim Henderson wrote quite a few books on this theme- collections of rural NZ life. Indeed, life in NZ back them WAS mostly about rural life. Cities were mostly support centers for the farms.

These tales are a step back in time to a very different New Zealand to the one of today. Ordinary people just getting on with life. Quite inspiring when you think you have had a hard day to go back in time and read of the hard daily grind through Jim's pages.

A life without so many things we take for granted now.

A time when 'Poor' was the default setting- when workers had far less than todays poor hard done by beneficiaries ;-)

Isolation, deprivation and back-breaking toil- yet without being resentful of their lot in life.

A life we have now lost- for better or worse...