Melody slithering through the misery [Review of Good-bye Maoriland: The songs and sounds of New Zealand's Great War by Chris Bourke]

Abstract

For both civilians and the soldiers alike on active service during WWI, music proved a significant and enduring element of New Zealand’s war effort and war experience. This was recognised at the time: a contributor to the onboard magazine of the Opawa, a ship carrying troops to Europe, wrote in 1917 that “A ship without a musical programme is like a dog without a tail.”