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Post by planecrazy on Jan 15, 2013 9:34:46 GMT 12
My late father grew up in Wellington and many years ago told me a couple of stories from his time as a young boy in the city during WW II.
An American DC3 (C47 I guess) was coming into land and was advised to come in via a specified route, they refused and where told if they didn't they would get shot at. They refused and where shot at, they very quickly went where they were told!
Another one of his stories, they only fired Wellington Harbour's large defensive guns on one occasion, the reason when they did most of the surrounding suburbs windows where shattered!
Can anyone verify if this happened?
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Post by dakman on Jan 15, 2013 9:47:43 GMT 12
Heard a story about the Wrights hill guns in Karori being fired only once .
And many houses in the area had shattered windows .
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 15, 2013 9:48:14 GMT 12
I do know that on the first day of the war, 3rd of September 1939, the Wellingotn Harbour guns opened up on a vessel that failed to give proper recognition signals. It was a fishing boat from memory. I am pretty sure later firing practies did take place at Wellington during exercises. However maybe this story is confused with the other city that has a Mount Victoria. From Wikipedia, "on Mount Victoria, Devonport. The Fort Victoria gun fired only once during its lifetime because of complaints from residents whose windows were broken." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_fortifications_of_New_Zealand |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 15, 2013 9:48:59 GMT 12
In fact I'm almost certain that the Wellington coastal batteries fired at a submarine in Cook Straight and missed it.
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Post by planecrazy on Jan 15, 2013 9:52:40 GMT 12
Heard a story about the Wrights hill guns in Karori being fired only once . And many houses in the area had shattered windows . Ha thank you, great memory Dad and one story verified, Dad grew up in Karori, can't remember if he told me his homes windows were shattered, maybe so. |
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Post by dakman on Jan 15, 2013 10:07:27 GMT 12
Of course the guns etc have all gone now but the site is opened to the public on occassions on Wrights Hill.Dave also heard that coastal guns fired on a whale near Wellington .our airforce also bombed it, no oil slick but lots of blood in the water,
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Post by mumbles on Jan 15, 2013 10:39:48 GMT 12
Another one of his stories, they only fired Wellington Harbour's large defensive guns on one occasion, the reason when they did most of the surrounding suburbs windows where shattered! Can anyone verify if this happened? As far as Wright's Hill goes that one is true as far as I know. The guns at that site were fired on only one occasion for each, postwar (1946-47) and as well as putting a few shells into Cook Strait shattered some windows at the fortress itself, if not in Karori too. |
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Post by planecrazy on Jan 15, 2013 11:32:14 GMT 12
Thank you everyone, interesting, so would imagine there would have been anti aircraft positions on Wright's Hill? So would an off course C47
with the intention of landing at Wellington fly close by these positions
and hence get shot at?
Love this amateur detective stuff, thanks!
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Post by Bruce on Jan 15, 2013 11:54:58 GMT 12
here is a good site about the various wartime defence installations in Wellington. capitaldefence.orconhosting.net.nz/as far as Wrights Hill goes, the guns werentready to be fired until 1946 and 1947, so although they did shatter windows, it wasnt during the war - as Mumbles has stated. there were plenty of AA positions all over the city, Including Mt Victoria and Brooklands. |
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Post by mumbles on Jan 15, 2013 15:06:53 GMT 12
there were plenty of AA positions all over the city, Including Mt Victoria and Brooklands. Brooklyn?  |
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Post by davidd on Jan 15, 2013 16:23:31 GMT 12
The only incident in Welllington regarding shots being fired at an aircraft that I am aware of was in about May 1942 when a Union Airways Electra (the 10A, not the L.188 turboprop!), which had just taken off and was climbing away, was shot at by one of the American ships in the harbour; fortunately their shooting was typically lousy. This resulted in some stern words to the Americans responsible, but they apparently just shrugged it off and claimed they were justified because they could see the red paint on the nose! As for submarines in Cook Strait, the RNZAF never claims to have seen, let alone bombed one, and no apparent wreckage of submarines was ever reported. Nor did the Imperial Navy ever report one lost in New Zealand waters at any time. However suspicious radar plots were reported from time to time, and the RNZAF took part in quite a few searches in Cook Strait, ususally employing Vincerts and Hudsons. The Royal NZ Navy has extensive records of all reported suspicious maritime activity in New Zealand waters, and the odd Japanese (and one German) submarine did indeed cruise NZ waters, the former in 1942, latter in January 1945, with at least one tracked by radar through Cook Strait, but none were ever actually seen. The official history of the RNZ Navy has some good general information on these "hostile" activities during WW2, so worth a look on the Govt website (Official War Histories).
David D
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