A new book shows how New Zealand played a much more crucial role in the First World War's Battle of the Somme than previously thought.
The 23-day action around the French town of Flers in 1916 cost New Zealand more casualties than the entire eight-month Gallipoli campaign.
For more than 107 years, the battle for Flers has been described as a great British victory but we can now more correctly call it a stunning Kiwi success.
Farmers' fields around the village of Flers in northern France might look idyllic on Tuesday but they were once the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in World War One, during the Battle of the Somme.
The remains of more than 1200 New Zealanders still lie buried under the soil, their bodies never recovered.
"The New Zealand Division garnered a reputation for excellence on the Western Front in 1916 through 1918, and the battle around the village of Flers is one of the key milestones in its earning of that reputation," military historian Andrew Macdonald said.
In the town, stands a memorial to the British 41st Division, lauded for capturing Flers from the Germans on September 15, 1916. The victory, a rarity at that point for the British Army, made frontpage news in London.
But thanks to the recently published writings of Kiwi veteran Lindsay Inglis, we now know the New Zealand Division not only helped capture the town on September 15, but also, on its own, repulsed several German attempts to retake it because, much to the anger of the Kiwis, the British 41st Division had withdrawn.
"At Flers, he was just 22, and to see what he went through it's just unbelievable," Historian Nathalie Philippe said.
Philippe has edited the diaries, letters and other writings of Inglis into a new book, and has taken great care to include his incredible account of the battle for Flers.
"He goes into great detail about Flers, you can see he's a young officer, but he's new to being involved in a big battle, and he adds so many details about the battle," Philippe said.
We now know thanks to Inglis, that the British 41st Division withdrew over one kilometre behind the neighbouring New Zealand advance. So the Kiwis were forced to take over the British portion of the line including Flers and defend the village from several German attempts to retake it.
Macdonald said Inglis played a key role in securing Flers.
"The commanders on the spot, Lindsay Inglis and later Hugh Mackinnon recognised the value of holding on to the village. Four, possibly five counterattacks formed, and all failed in the face of the New Zealand defensive line during the afternoon of the 15th," he said.
The New Zealanders fought around the village for 23 days, suffering 8000 casualties in that time, that's slightly more than they suffered in their eight months at Gallipoli.
"There seems to be a misconception out there that New Zealanders had more casualties at Gallipoli than on the western front, but with Inglis, and obviously other books, we have to make sure that people understand it was the opposite," Philippe said.
And, thanks to the detailed writings of a 22-year-old law student from Timaru, Lindsay Inglis, we can now say one of the first great British victories of the war should also be recognised as a New Zealand victory as well.
