World War Ii

Very few WWII veterans remain, but Auckland War Memorial Museum says if anything, there's been a surge of interest in looking at our wartime history. Audio

In December 1941, as the Japanese made their lightning attack on Pearl Harbour, Hong Kong also came under bombardment and fell two weeks later. Marie Broom was trapped in Hong Kong with her four… Audio, Gallery

This Sunday an incredibly rare World War II aircraft will have its first public outing in almost 70 years. The plane is a rare Mosquito salvaged from the shed of Mapua-based collector John Smith in… Audio

Graeme Lay's new novel, Larry & Viv, is different to anything else he's ever written. The book tells the story of two of the 20th Century's most glamorous stars of stage and screen, Laurence Olivier… Audio

Oxana Shevel is an associate professor of political science at Tufts University who specialises in the study of former Soviet states. She says the Russian army has proven not to be the mighty force… Audio

Robert Gillies has been awarded the Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit For services to Maori and war commemoration. He is the last remaining member of the 28th Maori Battalion and… Audio

Author Renée Hollis admits she was a bit overwhelmed by the response she received when she put out a call on RNZ National for listeners to send her untold stories, letters, diaries and photographs… Audio, Gallery

It was a case that gripped Japan. Shimoyama Sadanori, head of Japan National Railways, was found dead on the tracks of a commuter rail line one July morning in 1949. The day before he disappeared he'd… Audio

Robert Hillman grew up in rural Victoria, Australia, where the practical job as a butcher's apprentice his father had helped to secure him failed to appeal. So, at the tender age of 16 he fled by boat… Audio

On March 25, 1942, 997 young, mainly middle class women boarded a train in Slovakia. They'd been told to report to central locations in the country's east to sign up for what was described as… Audio

Most of the media stories on Willi Huber focused on his work founding the Mt Hutt skifield. This month, North & South finally unravelled the other central event of Huber's life: his role in one of the… Audio

There has been a call for more awareness about unexploded World War II ordnance in Solomon Islands after a young man was killed in an explosion on Sunday in Honiara. Audio

Sir William Manchester grew up on a farm in south Canterbury, serving in the army during World War Two and training under some of the great plastic surgery pioneers - including New Zealander Sir… Audio

Christchurch based audio historian and researcher Sarah Johnston (Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Rakaipaaka) recently won a Judith Binney Writing Award to study the National Broadcasting Service's Mobile… Audio

What was life really like for Kiwi soldiers serving during World War II, and what secrets might they have harboured? New Zealand author Tom Remiger has drawn on his extensive research from wartime… Audio

A new book shines a light on a previously untold history, that of homosexual New Zealand soldiers serving during World War II. Brent Coutts' book, called Crossing the Lines, focuses predominantly on… Audio, Gallery