Waiheke Island Historical Society P O Box 206, Ostend, Waiheke Island 1843, New Zealand

Annual General Meeting, 5 July 2020: The Bulford Kiwi

Speaker: Colleen Brown — author of ‘The Bulford Kiwi: The Kiwi We Left Behind’

The little-known story of the Bulford Kiwi centres on the end of WW1 when New Zealand soldiers were unable to be repatriated. After enduring a long cold winter , strikes throughout the United Kingdom meant that ships bound for NZ were delayed. The NZ soldiers eventually rioted and a plan to construct a giant Kiwi on Beacon Hill overlooking the main camp was hatched. New Zealand soldiers completed the task of digging the Kiwi out by hand in June 1919.

The Annual General Meeting will begin at 2PM. The business of the meeting should take less than an hour; Colleen’s talk will begin at 3PM. Refreshments will be served and Colleen’s book, The Bulford Kiwi: The Kiwi We Left Behind (2018), will be available for $40.

For further information please look for ‘The Bulford Kiwi’ on Facebook.

Colleen’s next book

The Americans in New Zealand 1942 -1944

When the Americans arrived in New Zealand in 1942, they brought with them that exciting touch of Hollywood and glamour to a country bereft of young men who had gone to war for the second time in a generation.

The arrival of these troops was more than a bunch of well-dressed, young men with plenty of money to spend, a pocket full of candy and stockings and flowers tucked in behind their backs. In some way the impact of those young American men has had an enduring influence on our lives.

I am researching the ‘American Invasion from 1942-1944’ for my next book.

As a young girl growing up in Otahuhu I was brought up on stories about what the Americans had built during the war, about the buildings and roads they had constructed; it now seems that many of those stories were exactly that – stories.

I’d like to talk to people who remember those times.

I’ve spoken to women who remember their parents taking in washing for the American troops, of young boys who scoured through the dumps looking for ‘American treasures’ and of a little girl who quietly listened as adults discussed what Aunty got up to with the Americans in the park at night.

I’d like to talk to more people who lived through those times. South Auckland had many camps where the Americans stayed whilst they recuperated from fighting in the Pacific or waited for their next orders.

New Zealanders are renowned for their hospitality and they certainly took many of those young Americans into their homes and their hearts. And the American families didn’t forget either.

If you would like to tell me about your memories please contact me on:
Email: thebrowns@colbar.co.nz
Phone: 0274797978

Thank you
Colleen Brown

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This page last modified on 29 June 2020.