The Debt of Freedom

George Whittington, of the Australian Army's 2/10th Battalion, was one of more than 500,000 men from his country and New Zealand who traveled overseas to fight in World War II. The sacrifices they made are chastening to recount: Australia lost nearly 34,000 killed; New Zealand's 12,000 toll was the highest per head of population of any Commonwealth nation - at 6,700 per million, more than Britain's 5,100 or Australia's 3,200.

Although more than 200 New Zealanders lost their lives alongside their American allies in the nightmare of Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands, most Kiwi casualties were incurred far from...

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