Story: Kiwi

Sling camp kiwi (2nd of 3)

Sling camp kiwi

During the First World War, New Zealand soldiers were increasingly referred to as Kiwis, and they seem to have accepted the name. At the end of the war, when New Zealand soldiers in England were waiting at Sling camp on Salisbury Plain to return home, they occupied their time by carving this large kiwi in the chalk hill above the camp.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: Eph-A-WAR-WI-1916-03
Photograph by Fred Wright

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'Kiwi - Kiwi and people: early history', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ephemera/10190/sling-camp-kiwi (accessed 30 March 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 24 Sep 2007, reviewed & revised 15 May 2015