Gallipoli

The Gallipoli exhibition at the Te Papa Tongarewa was fabulous.   So well done, moving and informative.    What a mess the whole thing was!  

What I had not realised was that so many New Zealand soldiers were sent to Gallipoli and the Western Front that 20,000 American soldiers had to come here to garrison the islands against attack.   A clever move to preserve the neutrality of the US - in place until 1917, while allowing them to be vitally helpful in support of the NZ War effort.      I wonder how  that would have fitted in with Donald Trump and his "from now on it will be America first"!