Titipounamu Rifleman Press

20/04/2023

Evidence shows New Zealand’s first world war soldiers killed both surrendering and wounded German soldiers. Their actions, condoned at the highest level, cast a long shadow.

18/02/2023

A nice review in the March issue of Sabretache, the Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia.
😀

02/12/2022

And another review!
"Taking the Ridge is a thorough and complete dissection of Messines and its aftermath…There is little doubt that it is now the definitive account of New Zealanders and Australians in this critical Western Front action. The book is rich in detail and sheds new light on a significant event of World War I” – Glyn Harper, New Zealand Journal of History, 56(2) 136-137. 2022.

19/10/2022

Another review. This one by Neil Frances in The Volunteers, The Journal of the New Zealand Military Historical Society, July 2022.

“Jeff McNeill has achieved what many authors aspire to – a book so comprehensive on its subject that one can hardly imagine anything left to write. While perhaps not really aimed at a general readership, a light reading would still give enough for someone unfamiliar with Great War history to get a feel for one battle in that huge, distant conflict.”

Thank you, Neil!

30/07/2022

https://www.riflemanpress.nz/Messines_1917.htm The New Zealand Division took the tiny hamlet of La Basse Ville on 31 July 1917, as part of the larger Battle of Pilckem Ridge that opened the bloody 3rd Ypres. This was the sixth attempt the New Zealanders had made to take the hamlet. I argue that La Basse Ville is the play-out for the Kiwis of the Battle of Messines back in June 1917. And it was one in which pride, bloodily paid for, might have had no small part to play.

I provide a small essay outlining the New Zealanders' different actions at La Basse Ville on the Rifleman Press website. Read 'Taking the Ridge' for a more comprehensive account.

Rifleman Press presents maps, photos and other documents about the Battle of Messines 1917 in Flanders, Belgium. It also provides background on the 1914 and 1918 Battles of Messines or Mesen as it is known today. Lists based on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the New Zealand Memorial to t...

25/07/2022

https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/opinion/300624128/the-battle-of-messines-book-details-wwi-battle-that-has-been-largely-forgotten The first review is in! "REVIEW: The richly-wrought detail and broad narrative sweep surely makes this account of a largely-forgotten World War I Western Front battle a necessity on the bookshelf of students of military history.

What a splendid gift it would make for a birthday or Christmas, for it sets a standard rarely to be seen in the genre, with features like a lengthy look at the geography of battle and the German side of events before, during and after."

REVIEW: The richly-wrought detail and broad narrative sweep makes this account of a largely-forgotten Western Front battle a necessity on the bookshelf.

01/06/2022

04/04/2022

https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/128200184/southland-servicemen-and-women-in-world-war-i-remembered-in-book?fbclid=IwAR1tVcQCeXrOrGLu5nwBwJt7bk9VPtQoV2ThVxTwCtloKaktrU5u_3OELZM
New Zealand is dotted with war memorials. Many of those in small rural places have a remarkable number of names on them that reflect their once substantial populations before post-war farm amalgamations and dairy cooperative mergers reduced them. I often thought those names if researched could tell fascinating stories of these places and the families that live there.

A book on Southland military men and women who died in World War I and later named on memorials throughout the province, will be launched soon.

30/03/2022

'Taking the Ridge: Anzacs and Germans at the Battle of Messines 1917' tells of the preparation and planning, the battle and the aftermath of the most complete British victory of the First World War on 7 June 1917 through the experience of Anzac troops and the opposing Saxon, Bavarian and Prussian troops opposite. The book launches 21 April 2022.

30/03/2022

30/03/2022