73 SUMMARIES NZMJ Obituaries Sharing the life of those who shared so much themselves. For over 100 years The New Zealand Medical Journal has been the leading medical journal for the profession in New Zealand. Publishing an obituary in the Journal is a way to create a permanent record and pay tribute to the life of a doctor as a medical professional and a respected colleague, but most of all as a person to be remembered. If you or someone you know would like to write an obituary for a doctor who has passed on, the New Zealand Medical Journal would be very pleased to receive and publish it. For more information on NZMJ Obituaries, please contact: email: nzmj@nzma.org.nz phone: 04 494 1025 Rory Stewart Te Hauora mō ngā Iwi Katoa Summaries of articles in the New Zealand Medical Journal Vol 130:1463 New Zealand’s peak year for wartime mortality burden: the important role of the Battles of Messines and Third Ypres (Passchendaele) in 1917 Nick Wilson, Glyn Harper At a total of 5,547 deaths among New Zealand’s military personnel, the year 1917 was the worst year from a mortality perspective in the country’s military history. This year had a third of the deaths in the whole of the First World War for this military population. Major drivers of this mortality burden were the battles of Messines and Third Ypres (Passchendaele) in June and October 1917 respectively. The contribution of disease deaths to the mortality burden was relatively small at 4.5%. Disease deaths were significantly more common in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter months, and some may have been related to crowding.