Bulford Kiwi

It was created in 1919 by soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who were awaiting repatriation following the end of the First World War.

Soldiers of the NZEF underwent training here when arriving in England before being transferred to New Zealand units serving on the Western Front.

In the wake of riots by disaffected soldiers, their commanding officers decided that the troops should be kept busy carving an enormous kiwi into the chalk of the hill.

The design was executed by Sergeant-Major Percy Cecil Blenkarne, a drawing instructor in the Education Staff, from a sketch of a stuffed kiwi specimen in the British Museum.

[4] During World War II, the Kiwi was camouflaged with leaf mould, out of concerns that German bombers would use it as a navigation marker during their raids over Britain.

100 tons of chalk were ferried by Chinook helicopter to the site, where under the guidance of Richard Osgood, a Defence Infrastructure Organisation archaeologist, it was spread over the figure to restore it for the first time in 30 years.