Policing the First World War: slygrogging, sex and sedition

Policing the First World War: slygrogging, sex and sedition

Date Published: 
November 2015

In the 1914-18 war, civilian society in New Zealand had to turn itself into a militarised society. The population of New Zealand at the beginning of the Great War was a little over one million, of that number 100,000 were eligible to serve. Persuading those eligible to join up did not happen ‘naturally’: it required coercion on a grand scale. Throughout WWI New Zealand Police were the invisible military machine.

The New Zealand Police Museum have researched and written seven essays that explain the role of New Zealand Police during WWI, Please feel free to read and share but don’t forget to reference the source.