DescriptionFeatherston Camp – Register of Deaths (15836168261).jpg
On 23 November 1918 the deadly influenza pandemic reached peak mortality in New Zealand, according to historian Geoff Rice. The pandemic was the country’s worst disease outbreak, striking New Zealand from October to December 1918. As nzhistory.net notes, ‘in two months New Zealand lost about half as many people to influenza as it had in the whole of the First World War. No event has killed so many New Zealanders in such a short time’. Over 8600 people died as a result of the outbreak.
The outbreak of the disease coincided with the finish of World War One and the return of troops to New Zealand, and some of the worst hit places were military camps. This record is titled ‘Featherston Camp – Register of Deaths’, and it lists the deaths at the camp from 17 December 1915 - 15 March 1920, a vast proportion of which were the result of influenza. It demonstrates one of the most devastating peculiarities of the pandemic in that this strain of influenza was most lethal for young, fit people, as opposed to the elderly or children. This meant that many soldiers who had only recently survived the experience of warfare, succumbed to the disease in great numbers.
Archives reference:
ACID 24697 WA232 3/22 For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter - twitter.com/ArchivesNZ
to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.