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Airdate: The Forgotten General

History screens a doco on NZ's Major-General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell, Commander of the NZ Mounted Rifles at Gallipoli.

2014-04-09_1609Later this month the History Channel screens a documentary on New Zealand’s Major-General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell, Commander of the NZ Mounted Rifles at Gallipoli.

‘The Forgotten General’ is a documentary which charts the life and career of Major-General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell, Commander of the NZ Mounted Rifles at Gallipoli and overall Commander of the 20,000 strong NZ Division on the Western Front in World War I. Based on the best-selling book by Jock Vennell, the television documentary takes the viewer into the life and world of Russell as he found himself at the head table of some of most successful and devastating campaigns for New Zealand in WWI. Russell is regarded by some as New Zealand’s one true military genius of the 20th century, and one of the very best commanders on the Western Front, from any nation.

Russell is the one leader who emerged from Gallipoli with his reputation enhanced – not in tatters. Once a household name, Russell’s life has been lost in the sands of time. Until now. Using a mixture of interviews with internationally regarded military historians, carefully staged dramatic reconstructions, rarely compiled WWI newsreel footage from archives here in NZ and around the globe, and an amazing array of still photographs, the production brings to life the journey of Russell and his New Zealanders through the First World War.

The Forgotten General 7.30pm Friday April 25

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