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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 16, 2018 19:18:53 GMT 12
Check out this really interesting tent at Guadalcanal, supposedly in 1943, and from what the caption alludes, in the RNZAF camp. I have never seen one like this before, and I have asked some friends who also don't recall seeing one like it. It seems to be a portable canvas covered nissen hut, with rigid framework and probably a wooden floor, but is canvas. Such an excellent design. It even seems to have two indoor stoves but I am not sure why they'd be needed in the tropics, unless maybe for cooking on? They are RNZAF personnel in the foreground and seem to be sawing logs. The photos is from the National Library and was taken by Leo White for the RNZAF. You can zoom in for a closer look here: ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE12288296&dps_custom_att_1=emu |
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Post by scrooge on Mar 16, 2018 20:01:53 GMT 12
I'm inclined to 'see' corrugated iron for the roof.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 16, 2018 20:09:08 GMT 12
I don't think it is corrugated iron sheet, I cannot see any corrugation for a start. However whilst I thought it was stretched canvas, I will concede it may be another material, maybe plywood? I think the end wall is plywood.
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Post by isc on Mar 16, 2018 21:22:49 GMT 12
I'd say canvas for the roof, you can see light through the roof material at the right above the door. It would be interesting to know what is on the board above the door, perhaps it's a workshop of some sort. I wonder if the two chimneys are actually ventilators, they seem fairly close to the roof if the roof is canvas. isc
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Post by saratoga on Mar 16, 2018 21:53:32 GMT 12
Its not canvas.
well,unless it has a lot of starch.
The curve is seperate from the framing,(see right, possibly of a lighter painted colour underneath) indicating a pre-formed curved hard material.
Could the image be of a logging/forestry unit?(the saw and cut logs is a bit of a giveaway),i believe they had an important though largely unknown part to play in the formation of the island airfields.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 16, 2018 23:15:36 GMT 12
The men may be from one of the RNZAF Sawmill Units, but I don't think the tent is connected to the sawmillers as their buildings were much rougher and usually made themselves from timber. You can learn all about them right here on my website: www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/RNZAF_Sawmills.htmlI think it could still be canvas, but it has possibly got rod stiffeners every few feet (you can see the join marks) to make it rigid. A similar principle to the fold up canvas stretcher beds of the time with the metal rods tensioning the fabric. Not sure. |
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Post by saratoga on Mar 17, 2018 8:38:05 GMT 12
It would appear to be a variation of a standard US Navy Quonset hut,supplied in pre fabricated,kitset form.The covering was pre-formed corrugated steel in small section sheets,prepainted olive drab.could also have an insulated covering applied over the top.
Maybe the cheaper solution to the alleged housing shortage?.
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Post by camtech on Mar 17, 2018 12:40:21 GMT 12
It certainly does not look like corrugated sheeting to me, perhaps a form of plywood - much lighter and covered with a canvas waterproofing.
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Post by saratoga on Mar 17, 2018 13:09:56 GMT 12
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Post by Brenton on Mar 21, 2018 19:46:58 GMT 12
The roof looks totally corrugated to me. You can see the corrugations in the right hand side overhang.Then on the other sides overhang were normally you might expect a barge board it has dented iron only. There's more than one of those huts in the photo as well. No one has decided to put a step at the front door ?
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Post by davidd on Mar 22, 2018 16:20:29 GMT 12
I tend to agree with Brenton re the corrugated iron discussion. Other items worthy of note are the interesting two-man saw (probably not uncommon at the time), the genuine sola topi ("Pith helmet") worn by airman on left, which is pretty conclusive proof that these are RNZAF airmen (not that this was ever in doubt, but Americans had a quite different type of tropical helmet), and the fluting on the base of the mighty tree on left-hand side. I have seen better examples of this classic type of fluting on other, similar trees in photographs, a characteristic which presumably developed on types which reached greater heights, to better brace themselves to resist the pressure of winds when growing in swampy ground.
David D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 22, 2018 16:43:57 GMT 12
All I can say is other people may have hugher resolution monitors than I do, and so if you can all see corrugated iron, perhaps it is. It would make sense that it is a permanent hut rather than a tent. Sorry for wasting everyone's time.
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Post by Brenton on Mar 22, 2018 17:45:13 GMT 12
No way, that was good and I learnt quite a bit. I spoke to my father about this and he said he does't remember seeing any huts like those. Not in his neck of the woods I guess. And yes I have a large screen... much better. Thanks.
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Post by kcollins on Apr 11, 2020 17:33:32 GMT 12
My great-grandfather (Alexander Fritz Neilson) did three tours at Guadalcanal serving in the Number 1 and Number 2 Island Works Squadron (in 1943, 1944 and 1945). His collection of photos has an image of a tent but from the other side that looks similar.  |
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Post by davidd on Apr 15, 2020 10:33:17 GMT 12
Well, having spent quite some time looking at the original "building" in the image at head of this thread, I think it is a heavily "modified" Quonset hut, with the lower curved sides cut away to improve ventilation, and lots of wire gauze panels (for mosquito exclusion duty) fitted both in the end walls as well as all along both sides to assist with air movement. However none the wiser as to what the curved "roof" panels are made from, and intrigued as to the apparent translucent effect visible on the inside face of panel on extreme right. Looks as though an entirely independent wooden frame as been built as the main structure (including that supporting the front overhang), with just the abbreviated curved roof panels from the original kitset retained. I also agree that the protruding objects along centre of roof are most likely to be additional ventilators. From my brief experience in living in real tropical conditions, heat and humidity are almost always the overwhelming consideration, and therefore the reduction or elimination of these major irritants would be paramount in my mind. Perhaps this was a Kiwi-modified "prototype" to try and give some relief for the occupants? Maybe this was intended as a specialised "sleeper" hut.
David D
PS, like Dave W, I still cannot see corrugations in the curved roof material either.
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Post by tbf25o4 on Apr 15, 2020 12:49:25 GMT 12
I had a look at the linked pic on my higher resolution screen and would tender this option. It seem to me that looking at the underneath of the curved roof panels in the front right of the structure they could be plywood on curved frames and covered with canvas as the top layer. The latter is suggested by the slightly uneven roof line at the bottom edge where the canvas is folded under on the left hand side of the structure which does show up in high resolution  |
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Post by davidd on Apr 15, 2020 13:38:04 GMT 12
On looking again at the underside of the front "overhang" part of the roof (on right-hand side), I think my so-called "translucent effect" is actually a result of the underside being painted white!
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Post by 30sqnatc on Apr 15, 2020 20:14:00 GMT 12
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Post by saratoga on Apr 15, 2020 20:40:07 GMT 12
If you look at the left side of the roof, in high res,it clearly shows separate panels, like narrow corrugated iron. The bottom edge of that side shows slight staggering of these panels. From what i have read of the Quonset huts styles, they generally had a layer of fibrous panels, something like Onduline, as an insulation layer.
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