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Post by jonesy on Aug 31, 2013 22:01:07 GMT 12
We've just been going through a whole pile of Dads old pictures to show the kids and heres a couple that I found quite interesting... Heres the first from No2 Hangar at Wigram, those hills in the background are superb!  Dad joined up in '41, one of his courses in Levin, which was just up the road from where he lived. (3rd from left fron row) Interested to hear if anyone knows/recognises chaps here at all...  After DH82 training came the Oxford? ( I think?)  Might pop a couple more up later... |
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Post by jonesy on Aug 31, 2013 22:07:20 GMT 12
This was also at Wigram..  Heres a card or poster which served as a warning to those errant fliers out there!  |
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Post by jonesy on Aug 31, 2013 22:34:30 GMT 12
And a few more... I'm guessing this was his recruit course. Instructor was a chap called Sgt Tikau Dated 9 July '41  In those leathers-gotta love em!  162 Sqn, sorry, not in chronological order...  He kept his logbooks which was a great momento too, intersting to note he kept the same navigator on his ops, and they remained in contact until Dad died.    |
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Post by baz62 on Sept 1, 2013 7:58:23 GMT 12
We've just been going through a whole pile of Dads old pictures to show the kids and heres a couple that I found quite interesting... Heres the first from No2 Hangar at Wigram, those hills in the background are superb! These are some great shots jonsey thanks for sharing them with us. This shot doesn't look like Wigram as you wouldn't see mountains from 2 Hangar. Could it be Woodborne or possibly Harewood looking towards the Southern Alps? Actually how about Ashburton as they had Tiger Moths? |
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Post by suthg on Sept 1, 2013 9:43:52 GMT 12
Definitely Canterbury location - Photo has a Christchurch photographer stamp on it, and perhaps Ashburton - I don't recognise the hills from a ChCh perspective. Nice, good quality pics. NFT - Night Flying Training? Amused with Feb 4th, "Hanover (bombed Nienburg, markers boobed)"  Bugger! |
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Post by davidd on Sept 1, 2013 10:26:32 GMT 12
The first photo with the Tigers was definitely taken at Harewood (3 EFTS) - this was one of a large number of commercial photographs (German name I think - he really got around!) he took at Harewood on this splendid winters day in mid-1941. Also some great close up photographs. The Sgt Tikau mentioned was actually spelled Tikoa from memory - there is a small bay within Akaroa harbour named after his family, which just happened to be the site of one of the three huge wartime-built sheds which were constructed as bases for the "controlled" minefields - in fact it may be the last of the three still in existence. This shed can be seen directly across the harbour from Akaroa. Sgt Tikao was well known in the early WW2 RNZAF (possibly ex Army) as a drill instructor, and also was an instructor for airfield defence courses from mid-1942.
David D
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Post by baronbeeza on Sept 1, 2013 10:32:24 GMT 12
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Post by errolmartyn on Sept 1, 2013 11:09:21 GMT 12
Definitely Canterbury location - Photo has a Christchurch photographer stamp on it, and perhaps Ashburton - I don't recognise the hills from a ChCh perspective. Nice, good quality pics. NFT - Night Flying Training? Amused with Feb 4th, "Hanover (bombed Nienburg, markers boobed)" Bugger! NFT = Night Flying Test. A short test flight undertaken during daytime as a check to see all's well prior to flying a nighttime op. Errol |
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Post by jonesy on Sept 1, 2013 12:42:48 GMT 12
Well that first shot opened a proverbial can of worms! I suspect the photo was given to Dad at some stage with that description and he's taken it at face value. I'm also glad his logbooks are filled in with such clarity-it gave us an insight into what he did, as he didnt really talk about it with us much... Thank goodness for Mr de Havilland's design that brought him home safely each time!  |
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Post by suthg on Sept 1, 2013 12:53:38 GMT 12
NFT = Night Flying Test. A short test flight undertaken during daytime as a check to see all's well prior to flying a nighttime op. Errol Thanks Errol. Makes more sense when occasionally an operational flight occurred the same date as an "NFT", ie a bombing run later that same day. Good detail in the logs. Most sorties at 22000ft plus... typical bombing altitudes Graeme |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 2, 2013 11:53:29 GMT 12
Super photos Nelson, thanks for posting them.
I like that first shot from the hangar at Harewood, I have seen others in the same set.
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Post by flyjoe180 on Sept 2, 2013 13:15:21 GMT 12
Very interesting to see these pictures, cheers.
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Post by davidd on Sept 4, 2013 10:35:49 GMT 12
Surprised that not one of our beady-eyed members mentioned the Unions Airways Lockheed Electra in the first Harewood photograph. Harewood became Christchurch's municipal aerodrome in about mid-1940 and Union Airways only used Wigram after that in extraordinary circumstances (or Brighton beach if both were fogged in). I too was fooled by the apparent closeness of the foothills in those 1941 winter photos when I first saw them - they were published in the daily papers at the time, which cofirmed the identification. So it is definitely Harewood. I remember somebody opining that it was something to do with the layers of air at different altitudes in winter which seemingly pulled the foot hills and mountains in closer.
David D
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Post by baz62 on Sept 4, 2013 16:06:29 GMT 12
Surprised that not one of our beady-eyed members mentioned the Unions Airways Lockheed Electra in the first Harewood photograph. Harewood became Christchurch's municipal aerodrome in about mid-1940 and Union Airways only used Wigram after that in extraordinary circumstances (or Brighton beach if both were fogged in). I too was fooled by the apparent closeness of the foothills in those 1941 winter photos when I first saw them - they were published in the daily papers at the time, which cofirmed the identification. So it is definitely Harewood. I remember somebody opining that it was something to do with the layers of air at different altitudes in winter which seemingly pulled the foot hills and mountains in closer. David D Well yes I did mean to say something but was hung up on the apparent "closeness" of the mountains and foothills. And now we know it's good old Harewood! |
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Post by shorty on Sept 13, 2013 10:33:51 GMT 12
I think hat the hangar behind the tower is the old Mt Cook hangar (where I spent 13 years working), before that it was the CAC hangar. Where Mt Cook were there the CAC still used the partitioned off rear section. The Hangar was demolished in 1996 and Mt Cook engineering was closed down. The area was taken over as a bus park. If I have the angle wrong then the hangar is the ANZ freight hangar.
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Post by baz62 on Sept 13, 2013 12:53:20 GMT 12
I think you are right Shorty it's the Freight hangar if that old tower is about where the new terminal ended up. Your old Mount Cook hangar would be on the left (out of shot).
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Post by baronbeeza on Sept 13, 2013 15:57:22 GMT 12
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Bugger!
credit "Whites Aviation Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library
