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    'Fighting reputations' : combat effectiveness in the Western Desert campaign : a comparison of the 9th Australian and 2nd New Zealand Divisions, 1941-1942 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand. EMBARGOED to 19 January 2026.
    (Massey University, 2022) Mawdsley, Shaun
    Few Second World War campaigns have garnered the attention of the Western Desert campaign of 1940-1942, and it has spawned hundreds of publications. The international composition of the British Eighth Army was a distinguishing feature of the campaign, and Australia and New Zealand’s participation received great interest both during the conflict and in the decades since its end. Much of this has centred upon the 9th Australian and 2nd New Zealand Divisions, which played critical roles in famous battles, like Tobruk, Sidi Rezegh, and El Alamein. Despite this, there has been a distinct lack of transnational analysis concerning both Australian and New Zealand performances in the campaign. In a similar vein, there exists many combat effectiveness studies, however their focus remains broad and covers both historical and contemporary topics for historical and predictive purposes. No study has utilised combat effectiveness as the main discursive methodological tool of analysis in the Western Desert campaign, and still none have assessed combat effectiveness at the divisional-level. This thesis identifies the major themes that governed combat effectiveness in the Western Desert by canvassing primary and secondary sources and combines various approaches to create a holistic framework and definition of divisional-level combat effectiveness in the campaign. It employs the 9th Australian and 2nd New Zealand Divisions as vehicles for analysis across environmental, operational, organisational, and intangible elements of combat spanning seven case studies –– Tobruk, Operation Crusader, Minqar Qaim, First Alamein, and Second Alamein, with the last two separated into Australian and New Zealand chapters. The research reveals that despite similar origins, the two Divisions underwent divergent combat experiences. Their different operational roles coincided with the dissimilar character of the Divisions’ commanders, both of whom influenced their respective formation’s organisational learning abilities. Nevertheless, the thesis found that common elements remained crucial to determining combat effectiveness at the divisional-level, however it also challenges long-held ideas of how and why the two Divisions adapted to battlefield conditions, and just how successful (or not) they were in doing so. It results in a more accurate analysis of the two Divisions’ capabilities, and ultimately, their fighting reputations.
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    Once more, with feeling : an enquiry into The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa's exhibition Gallipoli: the scale of our war : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Museum Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
    (Massey University, 2016) Haig, Nicholas Graham
    This thesis examines The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa’s exhibition Gallipoli: The scale of our war. Conceived in partnership with Weta Workshop and formulated during a period of institutional uncertainty, Gallipoli was ostensibly created to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. This research investigates what this exhibition and the methodologies and practices deployed in its development reveals about how Te Papa interprets its public service role, and concludes that Gallipoli signals an intensification of its hegemonic function. Marked by a discursive engagement with critical museology and theoretical perspectives pertaining to the ethics of memorialisation and practices of governmentality, in this thesis a transdisciplinary approach is adopted. Employing a qualitative and grounded theory methodology and inductive processes, anchoring the research are interviews with Te Papa staff and Gallipoli visitors, documentary evidence, exhibition ‘text’ analysis and autoethnographic reflections. This thesis suggests that Gallipoli is characterised by a distinctive ‘affective public pedagogy’. Further to this, it is argued that Gallipoli not only has significant implications for Te Papa’s pedagogical functions, but also for conceptions of subjectivity, citizenship and nationhood in New Zealand in the twenty-first century. It is contended that recent developments at Te Papa have further problematized its exogenous and endogenous relations of power, and that the ritualised practices of affect afforded by Gallipoli are ideologically prescribed. It is also determined that Te Papa’s legislative responsibility to be a ‘forum for the nation’ requires reconsidering.
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    The prosecution of multi-theatre warfare : an analysis of the German military leadership's attempt to direct war in simultaneous theatres : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Betts, Rowan
    On 1 September 1939 Adolf Hitler convened a session of the Reichstag to announce war with Poland. Dressed in a grey field tunic, he declared that Polish aggression would be suppressed, and that he would wear the tunic until "victory is ours, or, I shall not live to see the day!"1 Germany did not win the war, and Hitler did not live to see the day of its defeat. The established record of the Second World War adequately portrays what happened, and the chronology is ingrained. Nevertheless, aspects of the war have been neglected, especially in relation to command issues within the German armed forces. Because of the prominence of Hitler in all accounts, the actions of those below him have traditionally been marginalised. The purpose of this thesis is to address this 'gap' in history by evaluating the overall German military leadership's attempt to direct war in simultaneous theatres. Using primary sources such as war diaries, memoirs, and various accounts of Führer conferences, this study will analyse how the unique German command structure eventually contributed heavily to Germany's defeat. While many authors hold Hitler solely responsible for defeat, and thus overlook the role of others, my work is primarily concerned with analysing the German High Command structure and its attempt to direct war on multiple fronts at the same time. Responsibility for eventual German defeat cannot be laid at Hitler's feet alone because while he maintained sole executive powers, he remained open to the suggestions of those in his inner circle. In the end, those figures, who will be discussed in this study, failed Germany because they were unable to present a united front against Hitler when the situation became critical for the armed forces after 1941.
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    Ngāti Porou leadership : Rāpata Wahawaha and the politics of conflict : "Kei te ora nei hoki tātou, me tō tātou whenua" : a thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Māori Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2000) Soutar, Monty
    The primary focus of this thesis is to explore the reasons for Ngāti Porou participation in the wars in New Zealand during the 1860s. Early writers surmised that the alliances between tribes like Ngāti Porou, Te Arawa and the lower Whanganui iwi and the settler government were due primarily to a sense of loyalty to the crown. Repetition by later historians has reinforced this notion in New Zealand folklore and historiography. While recent retrospective histories reveal a growing awareness that the motivation behind the alliances was more complex, no analysis of tribal motives worthy of the confidence of Māori has yet been recorded. This thesis initially sets out to determine whether the historical orthodoxy is founded at least for Ngāti Porou. It presents evidence showing that significant aspects of the Ngāti Porou story have been misunderstood and misrepresented by writers who have been unable to source or who have felt it unnecessary to properly canvass Ngāti Porou views and records. To date, tribal historians have on the whole refrained from presenting a tribal perspective, not because the information does not exist, but from a desire to keep such knowledge in the tribal arena where it is most relevant. Continued irritation, however, caused by historical publications that fall short when trying to comprehend the nature of Māori participation, has resulted in a freeing up of information by those who jealously guard their family's manuscripts, and others who retain the oral testimonies within the tribe, so that a re-examination is made possible. This thesis also generally seeks to link Ngāti Porou's involvement in war with leadership patterns that emerged within the tribe during the period 1865-1872, though this dimension of Ngāti Porou history is not canvassed exhaustively here. In times of crisis existing leadership patterns were challenged and as often as not new leaders emerged to lead the tribe. Perhaps the finest military leader produced by Ngāti Porou during the Hauhau encounters was Major Rāpata Wahawaha. His role in shaping Ngāti Porou's modern identity is a major theme running throughout this thesis. It is argued that his leadership and philosophy characterised the contribution by Ngāti Porou to theatres of war that followed the 1860s. It is proposed that such a contribution was both strategic and calculated to achieve gains for Ngāti Porou. Moreover, the wider question is raised: why, since the 1860s, has Ngāti Porou been so ready to join the battlefront and to stand alongside the Crown? The thesis contends that far from being motivated solely by loyalty to the Crown, Ngāti Porou entered into an alliance with the Crown in order to protect and to advance tribal interests.