50: On a night-time sea-borne raid in a high-speed motor boat in 1918, mechanic Roy Alexander took a bullet in his stomach.

Today, Trevor Strong marks off another accomplishment in a long and remarkable life; tackling it in the same steely, unruffled style he has approached all of his missions.

Only in a topsy-turvy world would it be seen as rational to bring a posse of spies to heel by increasing their rights to snoop without a warrant, writes Brian Rudman.

Two military heroes - former spy Pippa Doyle and Willie Apiata - rubbed shoulders last night as France bestowed its highest honour on the 93-year-old Mrs Doyle.

She parachuted behind enemy lines, evading the Nazis to to spy on their troop movements. Now a quiet Aucklander is to receive France's highest honour.

48: A third of the kauri bushman who went to war did not return home and today a memorial plaque on the landward side of Lion Rock records 49 names in their memory.

British journalist and Islamic State (Isis) group hostage John Cantlie says in a newly released propaganda video he is likely to suffer the same fate as other US and UK hostages, who were beheaded.

46: Clive Collett had flown nearly 1200 hours in dozens of different aircraft when he took to the air in a captured German plane over the Firth of Forth.

The World War I memorial unveiled this week in France remembers those who perished on both sides.

Armistice Day commemorations of the end of hostilities on the Western Front in World War I will involve services around New Zealand at 11am today.

44: Hastings-born George Masters took part in the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 before being posted to Europe. His bravery was recorded in the London Gazette

When Tuareg fighters swept into Libya's biggest oilfield, they displayed the exuberance and eccentricity typical of fighting in the country.

Military records and images of thousands of NZ veterans - including Richie McCaw's grandfather - are being publicly released to mark Armistice Day.

John Key was playing to a vital international audience when he said that New Zealand has an opportunity to make sure the United Nations Security Council lifts its game.

The domestic dimension of the response to Isis, which according to Key is a "game-changer for NZ", contained confusions of its own, writes Toby Manhire.

Three NZ Defence Force personnel have already left for the Middle East to scope out a role for New Zealand forces to help train Iraqi forces fight ISIS.

The Prime Minister's landmark speech on national security has two messages for New Zealanders, but they are somewhat discordant.

The Cricket World Cup and the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings are being treated as potential terror targets by New Zealand and Australian Governments.

The possibility of NZ soldiers taken prisoner and appearing in beheading videos does not bear thinking about, let alone electorally, writes John Armstrong.

John Key says any NZ commitment to the campaign against Isis in the Middle East would be for a long time, pointing to the 10-year deployment of troops to Bamiyan.

One hundred years after the outbreak of World War I, Britain plans to repay some of the debt issued to help finance the conflict.

On board the troop ship Aparima in 1915, Neville Hawkes was in high spirits as he penned a postcard to his little brother.

A large-scale uprising by people living under the totalitarian regime of Isis (Islamic State) is the most likely trigger that will lead to the undoing of the self-declared caliphate.

Palestinian leaders accused Israel of an act of war in closing the sacred Temple Mount religious site after a dramatic rooftop ambush of an Arab accused of trying to kill a far-Right Jewish activist provoked rioting.

41: The Gallipoli landings occurred on April 25, 1915. It was eight months of bloodshed before evacuations began in December.