Great War Stories 1 - Leonard Hart

For the first time in our brief history as an army, the New Zealanders failed in their objective, with the most appalling slaughter I’ve ever seen. Still, we have nothing to be ashamed of, as our commander afterwards told us that no troops in the world could have taken the position.

– Leonard Hart's letter

It was a truly awful time, our own men getting cut to pieces and dozens by our own guns.

– Leonard Hart's letter

More men died that morning than in any other time in New Zealand history.

– From the narration

Dozens got hung up in the wire and shot down before their surviving comrades eyes.

– Leonard Hart's letter

Of the 180 men in Leonard Hart’s unit, only 32 survived unscathed.

– From the narration

For those five miles leading to our front line trench, there was nothing but utter desolation: not a blade of grass or tree, here and there a heap of bricks marking where a village or farmhouse once stood … just one shell hole touching another.

– Leonard Hart's letter