Home»All Photographs»Life in New Zealand»New Zealand Sappers Remember»Wellington Territorial Soldiers

The New Zealand Defence Force withdrew from its ANZUS Treaty participation in the American War of Vietnam in the early 1970s. Consequently, conscription of young men into the New Zealand army was abolished, and a volunteer, territorial army was expanded. These photos - mostly from news photographer John Nicholson - give a sense of a soldier's life in the late 1970s during the two-week annual camp. During the camp in the Chatham Islands, the 'weekend warriors' consolidated their year's training building a bridge at Waitangi. I showed recently these photos at a soldiers' reunion. The young soldiers at the reunion could not believe that there were young women officers as part of the operations… but these images provide the evidence. The soldiers are all sappers (military engineers) from 6 Field Squadron, Petone, Wellington.