Auckland RSA

01/06/2026

HMS NEW ZEALAND AT THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND
31 May – 1 June 1916

110 years ago the battlecruiser HMS New Zealand, gifted by the New Zealand government and largely crewed by New Zealanders, took part in the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea when 250 warships from Britain’s Royal Navy defeated the Germany’s High Seas Fleet in the First World War’s greatest and bloodiest sea battle. Six thousand Allied sailors, including 21-year-old New Zealander Leslie Follett https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C36963 a stoker on the battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary, and 2500 German sailors died.

HMS New Zealand survived with only light damage and the ship’s good fortune was attributed to the presence on board of a lucky piupiu and hei tiki, which had been bestowed during the battlecruiser’s inaugural visit to New Zealand in 1913 and worn by Captain John Green during the Battle of Jutland

Today, HMS New Zealand's 4-inch Mark VII naval guns guard the Court of Honour at Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou
We will remember them

01/06/2026

Congratulations to our long-time friend of Auckland RSA and of veterans and their families, Mr Peter Thompson, on the announcement of his Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to philanthropy and rugby. Well deserved, Peter! https://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/kings-birthday-honours-2026-barfoot-and-thompson-boss-peter-thompson-made-a-companion-of-nz-order-of-merit/2GHOBI3PRVG5HAKVDCIOEHRZVQ/

01/06/2026

Congratulations and Thank You for your Service.

28/05/2026

VALE Nancy ‘Pat’ Clothier (1920 – 2026) and thank you for your service.

We will remember them.

We sadly acknowledge the passing of Nancy ‘Pat’ Clothier at the age of 106.

Nancy was born in Christchurch on 11 April 1920. In 1942 on her 22nd birthday, the establishment of the WRNZNS was approved by the War Cabinet.

Nancy was amongst the first group of women to be enlisted into the WRNZNS and entered service as a Probationary Wren at HMNZS Philomel on 15 July 1942 and issued service number 11.

She would serve as a Shorthand Typist and then Telegraphist.

She was first based in Wellington at the Naval Office as a typist but then was transferred to the naval radio station in Waiouru as a Telegraphist. She was confirmed as an Able Wren then promoted to Petty Officer Wren.

With the demobilising of the RNZN she remained in service in the immediate postwar period until her service engagement ended on15 April 1946. She was one of the first and one of the longest serving Wrens in the Second World War.

21/05/2026

If you're a Kiwi veteran living in Australia, join us at one of our three upcoming Outreach Clinics. We'll be in Perth on (22 June), Gold Coast (24 June) and Sydney (26 June).

These clinics are a chance for Kiwi veterans to catch up with the Veterans' Affairs team to check that you have all the support and entitlements available to you.

These clinics are for:
- current clients — both veterans and whānau
- veterans who are not currently getting support from

To find out more visit: www.veteransaffairs.mil.nz/news-events/articles/australian-outreach-clinics-22-26-june/

20/05/2026

Calling New Zealand Veterans in Perth, Gold Coast and Sydney Veterans' Affairs New Zealand are crossing the ditch in late June 2026. RSL Australia RSL WA RSL Queensland RSL NSW

We’re travelling to Australia to meet with our Kiwi veterans. It’s a chance to catch up with the Veterans' Affairs team and check that you have all the support and entitlements available to you.

We'll be in Perth on (22 June), Gold Coast (24 June) and Sydney (26 June).

Find out the venues, timings of the clinics and how to register here: www.veteransaffairs.mil.nz/news-events/articles/australian-outreach-clinics-22-26-june/

20/05/2026

Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou
We will remember them

Lest We Forget.

Pukeahu National War Memorial Park NZ Defence Force Royal New Zealand Navy New Zealand Army Royal New Zealand Air Force New Zealand Cadet Forces Royal New Zealand RSA Auckland Museum Auckland Council Te Atatu Memorial Rsa New Lynn Memorial RSA Howick Rsa

20 May 1941
THE BATTLE OF CRETE

"When the parachutists came down, there was ammunition and arms, food, everything — they were in big, round cylinders. Someone told me . . . they got a canister of hot coffee and sandwiches!" — Peter Wildey, 7th (NZ) Field Company, inteviewed in 2000.

It began just after dawn on 20 May 1941. Many of the 7700 New Zealand soldiers stationed on the Mediterranean island of Crete were finishing breakfast when hundreds of German transport aircraft — some towing gliders — appeared over the island and suddenly the sky was filled with thousands of elite German paratroopers.

This was the start of the Battle of Crete — 12 dramatic days when New Zealanders together with other Allied troops and Cretan civilians attempted to repel a massive German airborne assault. They almost succeeded.

Many New Zealanders were evacuated from Crete but thousands did not: 671 dead and 2000 taken prisoner. Among those evacuated were Charles Upham and Alfred Hulme, both of whom were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions on Crete. A few New Zealanders took to the hills, sheltered by Cretan families at great risk, and some fought with the Cretan resistance, most famously Dudley Perkins who became known as Vasili: The Lion of Crete and was killed in a German ambush in 1944.

Today, New Zealand’s role in the battle continues to be remembered by Cretans.

Photo from page 03 of unidentified WWII Photograph Album – Egypt, Crete & North Africa. Acc. No. 1994.2827 National Army Museum Auckland New Zealand Army

20/05/2026

20 May 1941
THE BATTLE OF CRETE

"When the parachutists came down, there was ammunition and arms, food, everything — they were in big, round cylinders. Someone told me . . . they got a canister of hot coffee and sandwiches!" — Peter Wildey, 7th (NZ) Field Company, inteviewed in 2000.

It began just after dawn on 20 May 1941. Many of the 7700 New Zealand soldiers stationed on the Mediterranean island of Crete were finishing breakfast when hundreds of German transport aircraft — some towing gliders — appeared over the island and suddenly the sky was filled with thousands of elite German paratroopers.

This was the start of the Battle of Crete — 12 dramatic days when New Zealanders together with other Allied troops and Cretan civilians attempted to repel a massive German airborne assault. They almost succeeded.

Many New Zealanders were evacuated from Crete but thousands did not: 671 dead and 2000 taken prisoner. Among those evacuated were Charles Upham and Alfred Hulme, both of whom were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions on Crete. A few New Zealanders took to the hills, sheltered by Cretan families at great risk, and some fought with the Cretan resistance, most famously Dudley Perkins who became known as Vasili: The Lion of Crete and was killed in a German ambush in 1944.

Today, New Zealand’s role in the battle continues to be remembered by Cretans.

Photo from page 03 of unidentified WWII Photograph Album – Egypt, Crete & North Africa. Acc. No. 1994.2827 National Army Museum Auckland New Zealand Army

12/05/2026

International Nurses Day commemorates the birth of Florence Nightingale on 12 May 1820 — the founder of modern nursing who came to prominence while nursing in the Crimean War. The first Aucklander and 10th New Zealander to be awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal for outstanding services to nursing in 1966 was former New Zealand Army Nursing Service Sister Murial Jessie Jackson (1898–1989). Murial and her twin sister Marini Eva Jackson (1898–1986) first studied music at the University of Auckland - Waipapa Taumata Rau before training at Auckland Hospital to become registered nurses in 1928. During the Second World War they joined the New Zealand Army Nursing Service in 1940. Muriel left New Zealand in 1941 for Cairo to work in a tent hospital before spending nearly a year in a tent casualty clearing station in Italy, only 12 miles from the front line. Both sisters received the Royal Red Cross Cross medal for their war service and had notable nursing careers in Auckland after the war, both retiring in 1955.

Muriel Jackson is quoted in the Auckland Museum exhibition 'Scars on the Heart': "The facilities were all under canvas. The winter was bitterly cold. It rained most of the time and we were literally bogged down. We never got out of our gumboots for four months and as the army moved north so did we."



Photo Credits:

Newspaper clipping, ca. 1966. Returned Army Nursing Sisters Album; RANSA Album PH-ALB-398-p17-1. Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira.

Nurses M. J. Jackson (left) and N. Shewan greeting General Freyberg at El-Qantara, Egypt. Caption reads: “N. J. Jackson and N. Shewan greeting General Freyberg.” (Circa 1940s). Returned Army Nursing Sisters Album; RANSA Album PH-ALB-398-p15-2. Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira.

Sister’s Club Auckland. (Circa late 1940s). Lady Barbara Freyberg is seated, second from left. Twins Muriel and Marini Jackson are standing fourth and fifth from left. Returned Army Nursing Sisters Album; RANSA Album PH-ALB-398-p17-6. Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira.

12/05/2026

Today is International Nurses Day. Celebrated around the world every May 12, for the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. To celebrate this day, we thought we would share some history about our nurses.

Since the First World War, the Army’s Nursing Officers have served in every major conflict New Zealand has been involved in. More than 500 nurses served in the First World War and more than 600 joined the Second World War effort, serving in the Pacific, Egypt, England, Greece, Crete, Syria, Tunisia and Italy. Back then they were called the New Zealand Army Nursing Service (NZANS). In 1953 the NZANS became the Royal New Zealand Nursing Corps (RNZNC), and the first RNZNC officer was later sent to Vietnam to work with the Australians at Vung Tau.

📷 This badge is worn today by nurses of the Royal New Zealand Nursing Corps