Sling Camp was the temporary home of most of the New Zealand troops, unloved, bleak, and lonely, it remained the chief New Zealand training camp in England throughout the war. It was situated in the heart of the great Salisbury Plains. Twelve miles to the south of the camp clustered around its famous old cathedral was the ancient town of Salisbury Two mile walk from the camp was the railhead at Bulford , all troops arriving from New Zealand, and departing for France from Sling canp moved along this road They were played in by the camp band, and played out again when departing for France The troops were divided into four battalions Canterbury was number 1 ,Otago number 2 ,Wellington number 3 and Auckland number 4. Each had its separate cluster of huts. Canterbury and Otago on the high ground at the back, and Wellington and Auckland nearest the entrance gate each with its head-quarters and training staff.In charge was a lieut.-colonel All 4 Battalions were controlled by a brigadier-general, who had with him , a general staff officer and staff
One of the first things that happened to the troops at Sling camp was to remove reinforcement badges and start wearing their regimental badges. Extra tunics, blankets and equipment required for the new training were all given out Discipline, such as they had never yet experienced, came as a shock to many of the troops. It was enforced the moment there feet were placed in camp,smartness, absolute steadiness on parade, saluting of officers. It was all part of the training, though it was scarcely carried to the forward areas in France.
There was much that was new to be learned. Parades, lectures and long route marches, Drill and musketry required to be smartened up, range practices had to be fired, then came wiring, bomb-fusing and throwing, gas-mask drill, with visits to the gas chamber, Lewis gun instruction, trench stunts on the latest methods, mock attacks, and trench-digging. Officer training was the same as the troops,they carried packs and rifles like the men, with the addition of lectures on tactics, compass-work, map-reading, the handling of men, and a great deal else. They had to carry gloves and canes, wear felt hats and not caps, and putties and not leggings.
In the early days, when reinforcements were wanted for France, men were kept in Sling only a week or two, and then were sent across efficient or inefficient but after 1916 they usually took the full course of thirty days. At the end of that time they were fit, hardy, disciplined, lean troops All this training helped to strengthen the New Zealand fighting forces sent to the battle fronts in France and Belguim
Pop must have done the full course as he was here over the 30 days ..... 8 August 1916 to 24 september 1916 Im thinking he did Artillery training too , I dont know if he did that at Sling Camp or in another camp in England , His records have him only at Sling Camp no other camp.
Most of the photos of Sling Camp have the Kiwi in the background so must have been taken after the war
The Kiwi Emblem was cut by New Zealand forces at Sling Camp Bulford while waiting to go home in February/March of 1919. It was made by taking off the surface of the ground and revealing the chalk underneath The Body covers an area of 1 and a half acres Its height is 420 feet The length of the bill is 150 feet The height of letters NZ which were made at a later date are 65 feet Total area enclosed is 4 and a half acres The next record I have is dated 24 september 1916 it has Churchill being in the New Zealand Reserve Group at Sling Depot and leaving to go to France and 2 days later marching into the New Zealand Infantry and General Base Depot in Etaples
At the beginging of the war the New Zealand Expeditionary force ( NZEF ) contained a single infantry brigade which was combined with the unattached Australian 4th Infantry Brigade to form the New Zealand and Australian Division and was commanded by General Godley. The New Zealand and Australian Division along with the Australian 1st Division formed the famous Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) under the command of General William Birdwood which went on to served at Gallipoli
The ANZAC legend was born By the end of 1915 New Zealand`s contingent had expanded so they could now field a complete division of their own The New Zealand Division was formed in Egypt in January 1916 following the evacuation of Gallipoli. A second infantry brigade was formed from reinforcements from Egypt and a third infantry brigade, the" Rifle Brigade” arrived complete from New Zealand. The New Zealand Division was originally attached to I Anzac Corps and departed for France in April of 1916. While my Grandfather was traveling to Europe the Battle of Armentiers was ending and the Battle of the Somme was being fought on the Western front
Although the troops were deployed in a relatively quiet sector, at Armentières in northern France, they quickly became aware of the true impact of industrialised warfare. They were shocked by the scale of the artillery, which far surpassed that employed at Gallipoli. The scenes awaiting them were utterly nightmarish, with the smell of death and sounds of artillery pounding in the air. “They could hear it, and worst of all they could smelt it once they entered the battlefield. The smell of rotting corpses was overwhelming. So many of the dead lay unburied with many were never to have a proper burial or grave.
The trench systems near the town of Armentière were stable and well-designed, although prone to flooding due to the low water table. A support line 180 m behind the front line was backed up by another 540 m back; the three lines were linked by a maze of communication trenches, which allowed men to move between them under cover. Observation posts, machine-gun posts and other strongpoints were sited at carefully chosen spots, and dugouts provided shelter from the elements. Belts of barbed wire protected the lines.
For more information on the Trenches and the way they were set out go to
In late August, the entire division withdrew from Armentières and moved south to the Somme. Here it joined XV Corps of the British Fourth Army
The Battle of the Somme was fought by the Allied troops of France and Britain against the Germans on the Western Front from July 1 1916 to November 18, 1916 The Western Front is in the area where Northern France borders Belgium and West Germany. New Zealand troops in France faced a very different environment from that in Gallipoli. The Kiwis were just One of about 70 divisions in the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) a small cog in a massive military machine.
The New Zealanders received British-made ‘PH Hood’ gas masks for protection against chlorine and phosgene poison gas, also soldiers began wearing the new rounded ‘Brodie’ pattern steel helmet They were supplied with grenades – Mills Bombs. And each battalion was equipped with eight Lewis Guns bolstering the firepower of New Zealand infantry.The Division was integrated into the British garrison system where only two of the division’s three brigades (increased to four in 1917) were in the trenches at one time. The third was stationed in reserve as was the divisional headquarters. Each brigade spent 10–14 days in the trenches, followed by a week in reserve
The New Zealand Division joined the British Expeditionary Force in the third phase of the battle as part of a new ‘big push’ near Flers on September 15 1916.
On the Somme in 1916, New Zealand troops experienced the full horror of industrialised warfare. While machine guns were lethal for troops in the open, artillery ruled the battlefield along the Western Front. The gunners shaped the battlefield. Relentless shellfire reduced villages, woods and fields to drab wilderness. No-man’s-land became so featureless that it was easy to get lost and blunder into the enemy’s lines.
On 10 September, the division moved into the line between High and Delville woods. The infantry found the sappers and pioneers busy digging communication trenches in readiness for the assault which was to happen on the 15th of September. On 12 September, the New Zealand gunners joined the preparatory bombardment.
The Battle of the Somme saw the successful use of the creeping artillery barrage .This tactic involved using artillery to minimise the danger from enemy machine guns while troops crossed no-man’s-land. A curtain of fire shielded the troops as they approached the enemy line, and prevent enemy machine-gunners taking up position to fire on the approaching attackers. Extensive barbed-wire obstructions were hopefully shattered by the artillery fire and they could easily penetrate it
The New Zealand infantry ‘hopped the bags’at 6.20 a.m. on 15 September. Their immediate goal was the German Switch Trench, about 400 m away. They secured this line and a portion of the German Flers trench system just to the left of the village of Flers. Then they helped secure Flers, which had been taken earlier by the neighbouring British division.
The New Zealanders captured their objectives and assisted in the capture of the village of Flers, but the offensive petered out. In the following three weeks, the New Zealand Division made three more assaults – on 25 and 27 September, and 1 October – and grabbed part of the German fourth line (the Gird Trench system).
On 5 October, the New Zealand Division began to pull out of the line. For the soldiers, the end of the battle could not come soon enough.
The artillery Brigades stayed on to support the British operations until 25 -26 October 1916
Frederick Churchill Peach arriived at the very end of the New Zealand time in the Battle of the Somme his records show that on the 11 October 1916 he marched out to the Division ( I think his records show the word Division ) from the New Zealand infantry and General Base Depot in Etaples where he was reposted to 3rd battery from the 1st battery 3 on the 14 October 1916. On his records he has the word “Field “ so im thinking pops first day in action was on the 14 October 1916 with the 3rd battery .
The 3rd Battery was one of the New Zealand Artillery units to stay on the Somme to support the British operations until 25-26 October. I do not know if my Pop started his active service covering the British withdrawal from the Somme between October 14 1916 when he started active service and October 25/26 1916 but his unit was there so im thinking so
By the time the New Zealand Division was withdrawn they had endured 23 days of unbroken fighting, the longest of any division on the Somme, they had lost 2,000 men – a death rate far exceeding that experienced during there Gallipoli campaign
The casualty figures were devastating ,of the 15,000 New Zealanders who fought at the Somme some 6000 were wounded and 2000 killed. By the end of the campaign on 18 November 1916, the Allies had advanced just 12 km into German-held territory.
The New Zealand Division now returned to Flanders, where they helped man the sector of the front line near Armentières and Sailly-sur-la-Lys. As troops recovered from the ordeal of the Somme, reinforcements arrived to bring units back to full strength. By late October, the onset of winter brought further challenges to morale and well-being.
Key dates - 1916
1 March: NZ Division formed
11 April: NZ Division begins arriving in France from Egypt
13-14 May: NZ infantry enter the front line near Armentières
1 July: Battle of the Somme begins
20-22 August: NZ Division moves south to the Somme
15-22 September: NZers capture Switch and Flers trenches during Battle of Flers-Courcelette
25 & 27 September: NZers attack Goose Alley and Gird trenches during Battle of Morval
1 October: NZers help extend line during Battle of Transloy Ridges
5 October: NZ infantry pulls out of the line
10-11 October: NZ Division returns to Flanders
25-26 October: NZ artillery withdrawn
18 November: British high command ends the Somme offensive
I do not want to go into details in every battle in World War 1 on this web site in which my pop may or may not have fought in, his military records do not show this detail ,but his unit records do and they show that they were in all the major battles of World war 1 Above are some maps of these battles and links to information on them
The Victoria university of Wellington has the book New Zealand Artillery in the Field, 1914-18 by By Lieut. J. R. Byrne, N.Z.F.A. online nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/scholarly/tei-WH1NZAr.html