Happy 100th Years of the Air Force
Jun 14, 2023 8:54:31 GMT 12
machina, Antonio, and 1 more like this
Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 14, 2023 8:54:31 GMT 12
Today, on paper, marks the 100th Anniversary of the establishment of the Air Force in New Zealand.
I looked back at the old newspapers to see what was being said about this momentous occasion, and found nothing. I thought this was baffling that there was no mention whatsoever in the newspapers of the day at all. And no mention whatsoever of the formation of the Air Force till the 7th of September 1923, when lots of newspaper covered it.
So I looked up the New Zealand Gazette for the time. This is the legal document published that records everything the New Zealand Government did in the past few days before that issue.
Well, interestingly the NZPAF was NOT formed in June 1923. It was ONLY the separate New Zealand Air Force, part of the Territorial Forces, that was gazetted. That was published on the 21st of June 1923, dated the 18th of June 1923 and backdated to the 14th of June 1923. Here it is:
BUT!! This gazette was cancelled on the 3rd of September 1923 by the Governor General, and reissued that day as part of a new gazette for the New Zealand Permanent Air Force in the New Zealand Gazette dated 6th of September 1923. It is also backdated to the 14th of June 1923.
So the NZPAF, forerunner to the present RNZAF, actually came into being on the 3rd of September 1923, although the paperwork was fudged to make the formation date legally the 14th of June. Strange. I wonder what happened in the two and a half months between the initial gazette and the later one. Did they suddenly find more budget to establish the NZPAF? Did the first gazette forget the NZPAF? Weird.
Anyway, happy 100th Anniversary RNZAF.
I looked back at the old newspapers to see what was being said about this momentous occasion, and found nothing. I thought this was baffling that there was no mention whatsoever in the newspapers of the day at all. And no mention whatsoever of the formation of the Air Force till the 7th of September 1923, when lots of newspaper covered it.
So I looked up the New Zealand Gazette for the time. This is the legal document published that records everything the New Zealand Government did in the past few days before that issue.
Well, interestingly the NZPAF was NOT formed in June 1923. It was ONLY the separate New Zealand Air Force, part of the Territorial Forces, that was gazetted. That was published on the 21st of June 1923, dated the 18th of June 1923 and backdated to the 14th of June 1923. Here it is:
BUT!! This gazette was cancelled on the 3rd of September 1923 by the Governor General, and reissued that day as part of a new gazette for the New Zealand Permanent Air Force in the New Zealand Gazette dated 6th of September 1923. It is also backdated to the 14th of June 1923.
So the NZPAF, forerunner to the present RNZAF, actually came into being on the 3rd of September 1923, although the paperwork was fudged to make the formation date legally the 14th of June. Strange. I wonder what happened in the two and a half months between the initial gazette and the later one. Did they suddenly find more budget to establish the NZPAF? Did the first gazette forget the NZPAF? Weird.
Anyway, happy 100th Anniversary RNZAF.
