Julian Thompson: The 1916 experience, Verdun and the Somme

The 90th anniversary of New Zealand's involvement in the Battle of the Somme was commemorated this month at the National War Memorial in Wellington.

A poignant moment in the proceedings came when Prime Minister Helen Clarke read from the recorded accounts of Lawrence Blyth, the last New Zealand survivor of the battle.

His words, dutifully related to military historians when he was 92, are now indelibly part of a growing phenomenon, the lust for memorabilia from World War I.

There are parts of the French countryside where hands can still be laid on relics from the conflicts at Verdun and the Somme. Strands of barbed wire, brass buckles, spent cartridge cases and even live shells are there for the taking, and are especially valued by English collectors.

This steady looting - not a word the collectors like - has led to a moral dilemma amongst their ranks. The debate is whether Great War debris is fair game.

There is some consensus to show that it is okay to take items found above ground, to save them from further deterioration, to polish them up and give them good private homes.

Methodical digging or encroaching on farmers' seeded fields are frowned upon. The use of metal detectors is considered an absolute sacrilege. Removing unidentified human remains is another no-no and is unlawful besides.

Enthusiasts can also visit the battlefields without walking over broken shrapnel.

An English company offers personal guided tours. As well, the British have erected more than 100 memorials in the Somme department alone and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission - as New Zealanders need no reminding - maintains 242 cemeteries there with due care and attention.

Then there are those other solid monuments to fallen heroes, the WWI books, enough of them written over the years to stock the entire shelves of a decent provincial town library. Many of them are learned works penned by military historians who diligently feed off each other's research.

Now up pops The 1916 Experience to have true lovers of war memorabilia salivating. The book, priced at $79.99, is a very visual experience and very 2006. It includes a 65-minute audio CV of veterans' first-hand accounts and 35 pullout facsimile items of memorabilia such as maps, diaries, letters and posters, most courtesy of the Imperial War Museum.

There are only 66 pages, each designed to light up before your eyes like a web page. Major-General Julian Thompson, visiting professor of war studies at King's College London and a Falklands War veteran, has written the text.

He hopes in his introduction that the illustrations and memorabilia in the book will give some idea of what the fighting man endured.

The importance of the written word to the understanding of the Battle of the Somme and its twin ghost, Verdun, cannot be overstated, whether it be through Lawrence Blyth's quotations or Thompson's slim contribution to The 1916 Experience.

* Published by Carlton