Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 9, 2010 11:05:20 GMT 12
On the weekend just gone, I stayed up in Whangarei with my Great Uncle Ted Homewood, who was my late grandfather Jim "Jock" Homewood's little brother. We were discussing family history and various other things and he happened to mention that as soon as the Second World War broke out my grandfather (who died when I was 2 and a half so i know little about), was put into a reserved occupation.
I asked what Jock was doing to be reserved, and he said, "Oh, he was working on the building of Whenuapai."
WOW!!
I had no idea at all up till that point that Jock had anything to do with Whenuapai. This was a great revelation. I knew that he had done all sorts, including concreting work because Dad used to say Jock was involved in the project that saw Great South Road laid as concrete, autobahn style, in the 1930's. So he must have been employed by the Public Works Department. He also had his own tree felling business for a while and had one of the first chainsaws in NZ, a 16 horsepower two-man one that he apparently used by himself as he was immensely strong (that strain never got to me...).
But to discover he was involved in building RNZAF Station Whenuapai in 1939, that is so cool as exactly 50 years later in 1989 I was posted there and quite possibly lived in barracks built by him, and walked on roads or pathways built by him. So neat!
I'd love to find out if there are records of the workers who built the base, I have always had a huge admiration for their work, turning a swamp into a bomber base in less than a year. Now i have that personal connection that makes me even more interested still.
I asked what Jock was doing to be reserved, and he said, "Oh, he was working on the building of Whenuapai."
WOW!!
I had no idea at all up till that point that Jock had anything to do with Whenuapai. This was a great revelation. I knew that he had done all sorts, including concreting work because Dad used to say Jock was involved in the project that saw Great South Road laid as concrete, autobahn style, in the 1930's. So he must have been employed by the Public Works Department. He also had his own tree felling business for a while and had one of the first chainsaws in NZ, a 16 horsepower two-man one that he apparently used by himself as he was immensely strong (that strain never got to me...).
But to discover he was involved in building RNZAF Station Whenuapai in 1939, that is so cool as exactly 50 years later in 1989 I was posted there and quite possibly lived in barracks built by him, and walked on roads or pathways built by him. So neat!
I'd love to find out if there are records of the workers who built the base, I have always had a huge admiration for their work, turning a swamp into a bomber base in less than a year. Now i have that personal connection that makes me even more interested still.
