Overview
In popular memory, the war with Germany ended with an armistice on 11 November 1918 (although it did not officially end until June 1919, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed). Coinciding with this long-awaited event was an influenza pandemic that swept across the world and through New Zealand.
Originating in the northern hemisphere, this strain of the flu killed an estimated 9000 New Zealanders over a short period from October to December 1918. An estimated 50 million people died worldwide, which was nearly three times the number of soldiers who died in the First World War.
The 1918 flu pandemic is New Zealand’s worst public health disaster. A high proportion of the dead were young adults, with Māori suffering especially severe losses with about 2500 deaths out of a population of about 50,000.
Leslie Adkin, who farmed a property in the Horowhenua near Levin, wrote about these major international events, entwined with family life, in his diary entries from early November to early December 1918.
On 11 November, three days after his wife Maud gave birth to their son, Germany signed an armistice agreement. Locals marked the ‘peace’ on 13 November – ‘a lovely day for the rejoicings’ wrote Adkin. He took ten photographs that show how people in Levin celebrated this welcome news.
At the same time, Adkin and his family were also affected by the flu that was rife in the country. The Adkins had a lucky escape: the doctor who had attended the recent birth was unable to visit Maud and their new-born son because he had contracted the virus, so their family was spared exposure (although daughter Nancy came down with ‘flu-like symptoms’, later diagnosed as measles).
References:
Bargas, I. (2018). The 1918 influenza pandemic. Ministry for Culture and Heritage (https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/influenza-pandemic-1918)
Rice, G.W. (2017). Black Flu 1918: The Story of New Zealand’s Worst Public Health Disaster. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press.