Harewood/Weedons Military base

[carlos]

Hi everyone,



Im not sure if this is the right place to ask but a long line of google searches brought me to another post on this forum so here goes.



I imagine im a few generations younger than most here and I am asking this question with only half of the information I probably should have, however im trying to track down my real great grandfather.



My grandmother only has a few bits of unverified information to go off of about her dad. 1- being that he was a service man or possibly a travelling band member in the military and they met in Christchurch (the only military base is Harewood/Weedons). And 2- they met at the military base or a servicemens club. There is also talk that he could have been Puerto Rican but this is more unverified than the last two points.



My questions is, can anyone confirm if 1- There were any travelling band members during 1946-47 at the base. 2- Is it likely that they could have met at the base, as my instinct tells me not anyone can just walk into a military base. 3- Were there likely Puerto Ricans deployed at this time with the Americans? 4- Were there local bars that you know of that could have been servicemen bars during this time?



Thank you for any help here I truly appreciate it. This is a dead end that we would like to solve.



Cheers

Carl

[30sqnatc]

Carl,

Unfortunately there with numerous NZ Navy, Army and Air Force establishments in Christchurch in 1946-47 so you have a huge search in front of you.

Also in the period you indicated the US military were involved in early exploration of Antartica so the US naval ships may well have called though Lyttelton.

[Dave Homewood]

Jan 12, 2021 20:00:07 GMT 12 carlos said:

they met in Christchurch (the only military base is Harewood/Weedons).

Hello Carlos. In fact there were a lot of military bases and stations around Christchurch in wartime and just after WWII.

Harewood as you mention is now Christchurch Airport, and was an RNZAF flying station.

Weedons was a separate sight, southwest of Christchurch, and was an RNZAF stores depot.

Wigram was a major RNZAF flying training station.

Norwood was a lesser RNZAF flying training station.

Birdlings Flat was a small RNZAF flying field. There were lots of other unmanned flying fields too, only manned when flying activity was happening.

The RNZAF also had workshops in the city centre, including on Tuam Street.

The New Zealand Army also had a major camp at Burnham, southwest of the city, and a large barracks in the Christchurch city centre called King Edward Barracks.

The Army also had camps at various racecourses and showgrounds but by 1946 these were probably all gone.

The Royal New Zealand Navy had a presence at Lyttleton too.

I am sure there were other places around the city where there was a military presence.

There probably were serviceman's clubs, plus the YMCA, Toc H and other clubs welcomed service personnel. So did a lot of the hotels in Christchurch.

I don't know if there were many US personnel in Christchurch, very few I'd think. Most American units were based in Auckland and Wellington.

If he was Puerto Rican it is possible he was a visiting member of the Merchant Navy. People of all nationalities were in that service and visited New Zealand.

[baronbeeza]

I would think you need to quiz your Grandmother, and other family members.
NZ is a big place and with what info you currently have is not much help.

Military, or military band.
Christchurch
1946-47
American, or possibly Puerto Rican

I am guessing your Grandmother's mother was in Christchurch.
I would think tracking down her relatives and friends may help fill in the blanks.
Unfortunately many will be of an age that will make that tough going.

If your grandmother is reluctant to discuss her father you may stumble upon some of her friends she may have confided in years ago.

[tbf2504]

The most likely US military band that may have visited NZ during that period would have been from a large USN capital ship as they often had bandsmen made up of sailors and the US Marine detachment
assigned to capital ships. That would require research into what such vessels were in NZ waters during that period.

[davidd]

Operation Hi-Jump (1947) to Antarctica would be an obvious expedition to look up, Dave H will know if we have any threads mentioning this visit which included quite a few ships, although not all called in here, but I believe some came in on the way south, others on the return to USA. Quite a large fleet I believe. A A (Tony) Phillips' book ("Gateway to the Ice") will also cover the expedition in some detail.
David D

[Dave Homewood]

I am not aware of any old threads on Hi-Jump, sorry.

[carlos]

Holy Moly! Thank you so much to everyone who replied. I value your insight tremendously. I really did not know how many bases there were and it seems that this search may never turn into anything. I will take your suggestions and press on. Thank you again.

Carl