1918

Date unknown

Walker Electric Truck imported for Christchurch City Council fleet.

March 21

First meeting of the Canterbury Progress League (now the Canterbury Promotion Council).

July 22

After heavy snow - 175mm (7inches) - Christchurch experiences its coldest day on record. The temperature did not rise above 1 deg C.

September

Count Felix von Luckner imprisoned on Ripapa Island.

Nurses at Maori Hospital, Temuka, South Canterbury - 1918

November 6

Beginning of the influenza epidemic which was eventually to kill 466 people in Christchurch.

November 8

Huge crowds gather in streets after false reports of World War I armistice. The Canterbury Battalion’s losses in the war had been 2353 dead.

November 12

Armistice officially announced. But this time, there was little public celebration in a city now stricken by the full effects of the flu epidemic.

Related

• Year by Year List
• Firsts, bests, worsts and lasts
• Sources
• About the Christchurch Chronology.