Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 8, 2023 21:20:42 GMT 12
Has this excellent documentary ended up online anywhere yet?
Who remembers the very early days of this forum when this programme was on the Forum Circular RNZAF Video? LOL, I have no idea where that ended up. Young people would probably be baffled of they read that thread from before the days of YouTube.
rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/128/forum-circular-rnzaf-video
Anyway, this is from The Press, 30 January 1985. With the 100th Anniversary of the Air Force in New Zealand coming up in September, this programme and others like it should be rescreened on TV.
Man who built an air force
“A Shed Will Be Necessary,” a TVNZ documentary screening on One on Sunday, at 7 p.m., traces the history of military aviation in New Zealand from the time of the Sockbum and Walsh Brothers’ Flying Schools to the present day. It includes a great deal of historical footage ranging from the Walsh Brothers’ Flying School to World War II action by Wellington, Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito and Sunderland aircraft. More recent footage includes flying displays by Vampire fighters at Ohakea, Canberras, Hercules in Antarctica and the current Strikemaster, Skyhawk and Orion aircraft.
Among those who influenced the path of the Air Force was Sir Henry Wigram, whose name graces the airfield he gifted to the nation on his death in 1934. It was he who almost single-handedly built an air force at the then Sockburn field, cajoling and bullying an indifferent Government,' and when it still refused to take his proposals seriously, going it alone.
The attitude of those early governments towards aviation was one of complete indifference — they knew little about the subject and cared even less. It was an attitude personified by a Government Minister, Sir James Allan, who, in announcing the gift of an aeroplane from the Imperial Air Fleet Committee in 1913, added as an afterthought, “I presume a shed will be necessary” — a remark from which the documentary takes its name.
From those inauspicious beginnings grew today’s Royal New Zealand Air Force, a force which has served with distinction in times of peace as well as war.
Peacetime activities have included many mercy missions. Just after the Murchison earthquake in 1929, Captins Burrell and Buckley flew many hazardous trips over the mountains in foul weather with medical equipment and supplies. After the Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931, air force and aero club pilots did the same, totalling 45,000 miles over 11 days.
During World War II, the R.N.Z.A.F. was in active service on many fronts. Fighter ace “Cobber” Kain and Victoria Cross winners Pilot Sergeant Jimmy Ward, Squadron Leader Leonard Trent and Flying Officer Lloyd Trigg became household names and national heroes. New Zealand’s most distinguished airman of World War II was the man who was largely responsible for the winning of the Battle of Britain — Air Chief Marshall Sir Keith Park. He was commander of the Fighter Group which covered South-East England and the approaches to London and it was his tactics that played a large part in the eventual thwarting of the Luftwaffe’s plans. At the height of the battle 127 New Zealanders were serving with Fighter Command.
The war in the Pacific was a theatre where the R.N.Z.A.F. was more prominent, with 27 squadrons operating a total of 1300 aircraft. New Zealand’s Air Vice Marshall Isitt represented the country at the Japanese surrender.
After the war, the R.N.Z.A.F. shaped itself into a compact peacetime service. The coming of the jet age brought about a change in the type of aircraft and saw the introduction of Vampire and Venom fighters and borrowed R.A.F. Canberra bombers.
Helicopters represented another new direction for the Air Force. New Zealand helicopter pilots were attached to United States units operating in Vietnam from 1968 and nowadays the big Iroquois helicopters are a familiar sight throughout the country. They have proved their worth time and time again in search and rescue missions.
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the introduction of an aircraft which is still the mainstay of the R.N.Z.A.F. Transport Squadrons — the Lockheed Hercules. This tough, durable work-horse has seen service with the R.N.Z.A.F. all over the world, including Antarctica and South Vietnam.
The R.N.Z.A.F. of the 80s, with its sophisticated long-range Orions and Skyhawk strike aircraft, has come a long way from the days of the wooden, calico-covered biplanes which trundled around the fields of Sockburn. It is fitting that the same field should now be the site of the Air Force Museum — a tribute not only to men of vision like Sir Henry Wigram, but to all personnel who served.
“A Shed Will Be Necessary” was produced by John Wansbrough for Television New Zealand in association with Air BP.
Who remembers the very early days of this forum when this programme was on the Forum Circular RNZAF Video? LOL, I have no idea where that ended up. Young people would probably be baffled of they read that thread from before the days of YouTube.
rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/128/forum-circular-rnzaf-video
Anyway, this is from The Press, 30 January 1985. With the 100th Anniversary of the Air Force in New Zealand coming up in September, this programme and others like it should be rescreened on TV.
Man who built an air force
“A Shed Will Be Necessary,” a TVNZ documentary screening on One on Sunday, at 7 p.m., traces the history of military aviation in New Zealand from the time of the Sockbum and Walsh Brothers’ Flying Schools to the present day. It includes a great deal of historical footage ranging from the Walsh Brothers’ Flying School to World War II action by Wellington, Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito and Sunderland aircraft. More recent footage includes flying displays by Vampire fighters at Ohakea, Canberras, Hercules in Antarctica and the current Strikemaster, Skyhawk and Orion aircraft.
Among those who influenced the path of the Air Force was Sir Henry Wigram, whose name graces the airfield he gifted to the nation on his death in 1934. It was he who almost single-handedly built an air force at the then Sockburn field, cajoling and bullying an indifferent Government,' and when it still refused to take his proposals seriously, going it alone.
The attitude of those early governments towards aviation was one of complete indifference — they knew little about the subject and cared even less. It was an attitude personified by a Government Minister, Sir James Allan, who, in announcing the gift of an aeroplane from the Imperial Air Fleet Committee in 1913, added as an afterthought, “I presume a shed will be necessary” — a remark from which the documentary takes its name.
From those inauspicious beginnings grew today’s Royal New Zealand Air Force, a force which has served with distinction in times of peace as well as war.
Peacetime activities have included many mercy missions. Just after the Murchison earthquake in 1929, Captins Burrell and Buckley flew many hazardous trips over the mountains in foul weather with medical equipment and supplies. After the Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931, air force and aero club pilots did the same, totalling 45,000 miles over 11 days.
During World War II, the R.N.Z.A.F. was in active service on many fronts. Fighter ace “Cobber” Kain and Victoria Cross winners Pilot Sergeant Jimmy Ward, Squadron Leader Leonard Trent and Flying Officer Lloyd Trigg became household names and national heroes. New Zealand’s most distinguished airman of World War II was the man who was largely responsible for the winning of the Battle of Britain — Air Chief Marshall Sir Keith Park. He was commander of the Fighter Group which covered South-East England and the approaches to London and it was his tactics that played a large part in the eventual thwarting of the Luftwaffe’s plans. At the height of the battle 127 New Zealanders were serving with Fighter Command.
The war in the Pacific was a theatre where the R.N.Z.A.F. was more prominent, with 27 squadrons operating a total of 1300 aircraft. New Zealand’s Air Vice Marshall Isitt represented the country at the Japanese surrender.
After the war, the R.N.Z.A.F. shaped itself into a compact peacetime service. The coming of the jet age brought about a change in the type of aircraft and saw the introduction of Vampire and Venom fighters and borrowed R.A.F. Canberra bombers.
Helicopters represented another new direction for the Air Force. New Zealand helicopter pilots were attached to United States units operating in Vietnam from 1968 and nowadays the big Iroquois helicopters are a familiar sight throughout the country. They have proved their worth time and time again in search and rescue missions.
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the introduction of an aircraft which is still the mainstay of the R.N.Z.A.F. Transport Squadrons — the Lockheed Hercules. This tough, durable work-horse has seen service with the R.N.Z.A.F. all over the world, including Antarctica and South Vietnam.
The R.N.Z.A.F. of the 80s, with its sophisticated long-range Orions and Skyhawk strike aircraft, has come a long way from the days of the wooden, calico-covered biplanes which trundled around the fields of Sockburn. It is fitting that the same field should now be the site of the Air Force Museum — a tribute not only to men of vision like Sir Henry Wigram, but to all personnel who served.
“A Shed Will Be Necessary” was produced by John Wansbrough for Television New Zealand in association with Air BP.
