In 2018, I stood in W.W.1 trenches in near the Belgian town of Ypres, a town outside of which five significant battles were fought in W.W.1. The worst was Third Ypres (Passchendaele), with about 550,000 Allied and German soldiers killed. Third Ypres was also responsible for New Zealand’s bloodiest day in W.W.1., with 800 killed and 2,000+ more wounded.
107 years after W.W.1. ended, and 108 years since Passchendaele, I am not sure New Zealand, or the Western hemisphere that we are a part of, have learnt anything from it or the many conflicts since. Elected civilians in high offices seem just as keen sending our personnel to foreign wars that many New Zealanders want nothing to do with, as their wartime counterparts did in the 1910’s and again in 1939-1945.
I refuse to forget. I read “Passchendaele: Requiem for a Doomed Youth” a book by Paul Ham in preparation for going to Passchendaele, about the circumstances that led to Third Ypres. In sobering detail it described the setting, the circumstances of individuals from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere as they were fed like cannon fodder into a muddy quagmire that all participants came to detest as much as their enemy. It told how they dealt not only with bullets and mud, but came to question their own commanders/politicians/meaning of life, and lived in such appalling conditions that “to catch a blighty” (a war wound) and be sent home became almost as desirable as victory.
Since W.W.2. – a war that unlike W.W.1., had to be fought – ended with another 11,700 New Zealanders killed, wounded or missing, we have largely followed the United States and Australia. We have fought in Korea, Vietnam, contributed forces to the British Malaysian Emergency, the 1991 Gulf War and more recently to the U.S. operation in Afghanistan.
I will always support the New Zealand Defence Force, who for the very most part perform a service that we grossly underestimate the importance of and never quite properly fund or resource. What I will not support is the committing of New Zealand Defence personnel to wars that were not started to uphold the international law that we have committed to protecting. I will not support the committing of actions that betray our commitment to the Geneva Conventions that govern the conduct of military action. We as a nation are better than that. We aspire to be better than a horde of barbarians operating under the law of the jungle.
This idea that has been floated that New Zealand might join a United Kingdom led effort to open the Strait of Hormuz, does not fill me with excitement. The whole war with Iran and the consequences of it are very murky in terms of complying with international law. Distancing ourselves from the United States whilst President Donald Trump is in office, and waiting for his authority to be reined in, hopefully at the 2026 mid term elections in November, is a much more common sense approach.
One might ask then, why bother with a Defence Force, if we are not going to use it?
Before we deploy in significant force anywhere, New Zealand defence spending needs a baseline increase to 2% of our G.D.P., to fund essential Defence Force facility upgrades and replacements, personnel retention in the existing formations and conduct the necessary training exercises each year.
Once that is done, we can focus on replacing several aging pieces of equipment which will be on life support in a few years if nothing happens. The frigates need replacing, preferably with a few smaller units such as corvettes, whilst the two 757’s that have been used for ferrying around dignitaries and assisting with logistics, also need replacing. Then we can consider what peace-keeping/peace-making operations we support; how to best work with Australia for the common good of the South Pacific; assist with disaster relief. All of these responsibilities are compromised whilst we cannot adequately fund, support and train our Defence Force personnel.
Having a Defence Force that works for New Zealand and is not at the disposal of questionable allies with aims that might not work for us, is as important in 2026 as it was in the grim days of 1917.