Hangars at Whenuapai in WWII

[Dave Homewood]

I was thinking, considering Whenuapai was probably New Zealand's busiest operational station in WWII it is interesting that most of the war it got by with only two main hangars.

By 1940 the station had three hangars, No. 1 Hangar being the standard tin-clad hangar as seen on many stations in wartime, and was occupied in 1940 by the New Zealand General Reconnaissance Squadron, and on 1 Jan 1941 that was renamed No. 1 (GR) Squadron.

No's 2 and 3 hangars were built in 1939-40. They were the concrete bomb-proof hangars.

But when Rukuhia was expanded and converted into a station to house No. 1 Repair Depot in 1942, the tin hangar was dismantled and shifted there, leaving Whenuapai with only two hangars.

Whenuapai had loads of resident squadrons through the war. No. 1 (GR/BR) Squadron, No. 3 (GR) Squadron, No. 9 (BR) Squadron, No.'s 14, 15, 17 and 18 (Fighter) Squadrons all spent time there at different times, No's 40 and 41 (Transport) Squadrons were resident units. No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School was based there too for the early war period. I am sure there will have been other resident units too. So I wonder were the two hangars shared by all the units? Was there a premium on hangar space?

I have noted in photos at least one of the smaller temporary dispersal hangars over by the Whenuapai Village side of the airfield. Was any maintenance done in that?

[davidd]

As there were 3 hangars in the early war years, I guess that one (or maybe one and a half) was almost sufficient for up to 52 or so Tigers (4 EFTS December 1940 till March 1942), and after that it was just 1 Squadron with Vildes/Vincents, then Hudsons, also 3 Sqdn from about February - October 1942 (also Vincents/Vildes, then Hudsons), and also briefly 8 Sqdn about March to May 42 (also Vincents, etc) before it moved to Gisborne in latter month. The Kittys & Harvards of 15 (then 17) Squadrons were there for a period till about July 1943, but a lot of these aircraft were also using Seagrove as their main base. However the "metal monsters" (Hudsons, Venturas of both kinds, C-47s, C-60s, C-63s) were all quite capable of living outside in all weathers (but at risk of moisture annoying the electrics) so at any given time there was probably more than enough covered space for all the fabric-covered aircraft as well as those of all types under inspections, etc., which could sometimes be carried out in open on a good day, but preferably inside if at all possible. Remember also in 1942/43 that dispersal of valuable attack aircraft such as Hudsons and Venturas would normally be dispersed all around the airfield should approaching Japanese task forces be suspected, and they could even be ferried away to dispersal airfields, etc., or even be used to hunt for and attack the enemy (that was one of their prime jobs!) Visiting large American aircraft might also have been allowed to occupy space in one of the big hangars if such space available. If they had really needed more covered storage I guess they could have had the minimalist "aircraft shelters" which were so common around the edges of many RNZAF aerodromes between 1942 and 1944, although were definitely buildings with an expected life of about a couple of years at best. Normally there was never any more than a single Hudson or Ventura squadron at Whenuapai at a time, apart from that period when 1 and 3 squadrons were in residence together during 1942.
David D

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks David.

I guess you can fit a lot of Tigers into one of those concrete hangars.

Btw, did you receive my email from a few days back about the fighter pilots' logbooks? Is your email still not working?

[tbf2504]

I always understood that one of the "mobilisation" hangars bound for Whenuapai was sent to Tauranga for the establishment of the FIS

[Dave Homewood]

Not sure about that Paul, but the one at Whenuapai now definitely moved to Rukuhia for a few years and then moved back, according to veterans I have spoken with.

[davidd]

Whoops, yes Dave, still have the minor problem of being able to receive, but not transmit! However many thanks for the additional fighter pilots; had no idea that Meyer volunteered for service in Japan in 1947, although I see that information is actually included in Colin Hanson's big book, so should have checked there. I was fully aware of his service in Europe with 75 Squadron, etc, and knew that he returned to NZ just after end of war, but then presumed he was tfd to Reserve and went back to his "old job" like so many others. Obviously he has itchy feet. Unable to check the pilot Olson's record to see if his name was changed in WW2 till early next year.
David D

[starr]

The foundations for the second hangar at Rukuhia are adjacent to the existing hangar (James Aviation). The buildings for Aero Engine services and Aeromachinists (now Pacific Aerospace) were built over these foundations.

[Dave Homewood]

David, Charles Lee/Olson's son Chris told me, "As an aside, Dad was fostered as a baby and grew up believing he was an Olson. He opted to fly during the war as Charles Olson figuring that if he died he should die as an Olson.
He changed his name to the Lee on his birth certificate at the end of the war."

[errolmartyn]

Dec 18, 2020 13:23:53 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

David, Charles Lee/Olson's son Chris told me, "As an aside, Dad was fostered as a baby and grew up believing he was an Olson. He opted to fly during the war as Charles Olson figuring that if he died he should die as an Olson.
He changed his name to the Lee on his birth certificate at the end of the war."

Enlisted as NZ4213277 Charles Courtney Olson at Ashburton as an AC2 and ACH (ADU) on 24 Oct 42.

Errol

[davidd]

A bit of subject drift arising here, probably partly my fault! Incidentally, the question about whether a hangar was moved from Whenuapai to Rukuhia or to Tauranga early in WW2 seems to be answered by this short quotation from Aerodrome Services Branch of the Public Works Department, sub-title, History of the Branch's War Work, 1939 - 1945, by L Clifton, September 1947, re-issued by RNZAF Historical Records, January 1983.

Pages 14 - 15, "Hangar Design".

Page 15: "The design of the timber hangars allowed for dismantling and re-erection; this worked out very satisfactorily when a timber hangar was moved from Whenuapai to Rukuhia. The amount of damaged material was surprisingly small. The cost of a complete temporary hangar with all accessories averaged 25,000 pounds." (My note, cost of each of the "Permanent" concrete hangars built at Whenuapai and Ohakea was approximately four times as much, although they were bigger. The concrete hangars also took much longer to complete for various reasons. Also worth pointing out that weather conditions had to be taken into account when erecting the temporary wooden hangars, as quite a number of these hangars (perhaps 4 or 5) suffered damage when strong winds sprang up at precisely the wrong moment, and brought them down with a crash, although so far as I know, nobody was ever killed in these disasters! Also amazingly, these collapsed hangars were fairly quickly re-erected, within a matter of days, depending on the extent of damage to the timbers.
David D

[Dave Homewood]

Interesting that these temporary hangars of the early 1940's are still in usage at Whenuapai, Woodbourne, Omaka, and Nelson. And it is only in recent years that others have been removed by development at Wigram, Harewood, Ohakea, Tauranga and Taieri. I reckon they were a great investment for temporary buildings (a bit like Auckland's The Cloud which was only meant to be there a year, but is still there many years later and doing terrific work as a venue for events.)

Does anyone know if the Whenuapai temporary hangar has ever been reclad since it returned to the base? Or is it wearing the original tin?

[davidd]

Dave H, there still remains one of the Tyed-Arch (steel-framed) hangars at Wigram (RNZAF Museum) and it is still an important part of the covered display space (although this is dwarfed by the amount of covered space the Museum has access to now!) This building, the old No. 1 Hangar, although the last of seven big hangars built at Wigram between 1935 and 1941 to be completed, has had quite a lot of money thrown at over the last 20/25 years, including being totally reclad, and insulated.

The ultimate configuration of the hangar layout for Wigram, on a clockwise arc from east to west, and ultimately numbered from 1 to 7, was: (No. 1) steel framed type; (Nos. 2, 3), concrete hangars with wide opening on airfield side, with conventional sliding doors, built about 1936; then the interesting Instructional Building (later also called "Control Tower"), and much later (from 1965) Training Group HQ, renamed Support Group HQ after that; next (Nos. 4, 5) are the two earlier (1935) concrete hangars, with electrically-operated tilting doors, but otherwise similar to Nos. 2 and 3; and finally (Nos. 6, 7), two timber-framed "Mobilization" hangars. These last two were removed quite a few years ago now, but one is believed to have been re-erected further out on Canterbury Plains, somewhere.

At Harewood were four large hangars, I think three of the Tyed Arch type, plus one in concrete block completed in 1941, which was immediately to the east of the original "Terminal" building (latter demolished in 1959 or thereabouts to make way for the new Pascoe-designed one opened in 1960), and originally owned by the Council. I think this hangar was later (postwar) swapped for the Tyed Arch one immediately to the east of it, which was then used as the first "International" Terminal, although later the Aero club and other commercial operators leased space in it. All of these original hangars have been demolished since the 1990s, if not a little earlier. Tony Phillip's book on the history of ChCh International Airport may well have details of their respective demises.
David D

[Dave Homewood]

Oh yes of course, I totally forgot about Wigram's No. 1 Hangar, at the Museum.

I would be very interested to hear if one of the 6 and 7 Hangars has been re-erected elsewhere. Sadly all Don's photos on this thread have vanished in the Photobucket purge, but my memory was that the two hangars were smashed up by diggers. Not carefully dismantled.
rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/15565/wigram

However one of the Harewood hangars was dismantled rather than demolished, and it is now at Mercer Airport, just south of Auckland.

[baz62]

Yes I think you are correct Dave that 6 and 7 hangars were demolished with no thought to possible reassembly. Thats interesting about one of the Harewood hangar. I wonder if it was the Mount Cook/Canterbury Aero Club one on the right hand end of the terminal (as you left the airport).

[davidd]

Yes baz62, that's the one I was talking about.

[pjw4118]

While not on the mobile hangar theme Dave , does anybody have details on the Haast aerodrome, a very large area, seemingly built with great difficulty and perhaps never used. It seems far to big for an emergency strip and I have always wondered if it was part of a planned Fiordland redoubt.