CHAPTER ONE THE AGE OF APatHY n New Zealand, the decade immediately following the end Iof World War One was, in terms of aviation in general but military aviation in particular, one of apparent government indifference, neglect, and lost opportunity. The decade could with some justification be termed the Age of Apathy. With the end of hostilities the New Zealand government, forced to recognise the effectiveness of aircraft during the Great War, reluctantly accepted there could be a need for a permanent air force provided it could be achieved at minimum cost. Accordingly it asked the United Kingdom government to make an officer available to advise on a New Zealand aviation policy. In March 1919 an RAF officer, Colonel Arthur Vere Bet- tington, arrived in New Zealand accompanied by two RAF mechanics and four aircraft (two Bristol Fighters and two DH4 bombers) to carry out the assignment. Three New Zealanders, who had seen service in the RAF during the war, were ap- pointed to assist Colonel Bettington. They were Major A de B Brandon, a Wellington barrister, Captain J H Don, a Timaru dental surgeon, and Lieutenant E T Shand, an Otago sheep farmer. In his subsequent report, which was both thorough and visionary, Colonel Bettington pointed to the military strength of Japan and its growing population and predicted the Pacific would become a trouble spot in the years ahead. He urged New Zealand to develop closer defence ties with Australia. In his main recommendation Bettington proposed that the government utilize the pool of trained pilots who had returned from the war to form an air arm and to take over Sockburn Airfield in Christchurch as an air force training station. Colonel Bettington went on to propose the immediate formation of seven specialist squadrons, and a support infra- structure, with the strength of this force to be built up to over 350 officers, at a total cost of about £1.3m over the following 1 The Nation Waited Post-World War One gift four years. He also suggested that a territorial air force comprising aircraft from Great Britain some 1134 men be created within eight years. at Wigram Aerodrome, Christchurch, 1920s. Not surprisingly the report was received with dismay by Behind, to the east, are the unimaginative and penny-pinching Massey-led Reform the Port Hills . government, and Colonel Bettington was asked to submit a From left: De Havilland cheaper plan. He dutifully complied in August 1919, but that DH9, Avro 504 and three report, too, was unacceptable, so the disillusioned Bettington Bristol Fighters. Wairarapa Archive returned to the United Kingdom, leaving the colonials to their 09-130/35 own devices. At about this time the United Kingdom government offered each of the major British Empire countries 100 war surplus planes to help establish their air forces. The types of aircraft included the Avro 504K, Bristol Fighter, Dolphin, DH9, DH9A, Salamander and SE5A. This was a good range of relatively new aviation hardware which, it might be thought, would have been seized upon by the New Zealand government with alacrity. But that was not the case. The government, probably hoping to buy time, appointed a committee to make recommendations concerning the British offer and matters regarding aviation generally. Eventually it was decided to accept 20 Avros and nine of the DH9As, and to ask for six flying boats instead of the other aircraft offered. However the decision took too long and, because other governments had picked over the pool of surplus planes, there were no DH9As left, and no flying boats available. 2 The Age of Apathy The New Zealand government attempted to retrieve some- thing from the muddle and immediately asked for the Avros and DH9s (instead of DH9As) it had decided to accept. These were eventually shipped to New Zealand and, with the four aircraft which Colonel Bettington had left behind, New Zealand then had a fleet of 33 aircraft available for defence purposes. Inexplicably, and presumably on the grounds of cost, the govern- ment retained only six aircraft, which were based at Sockburn, for military use. The remainder were lent or leased throughout the country for commercial purposes. Notwithstanding the government’s somewhat disinterested and, indeed, lethargic, attitude toward the development of the new transport medium, the early 1920s saw a remarkable but short-lived expansion of recreational and commercial aviation in New Zealand. A significant number of men who had served in the Royal Air Force, (or its forerunners, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service), returned home filled with enthusiasm and the expectation that they would be able to continue a career in aviation. Throughout New Zealand former servicemen in war- surplus aircraft gave exhibitions and joy flights which, in turn, brought home to the population at large the reality, excitement, and the potential of aviation. Those early post-war years saw the first tentative steps which gradually led to the development of air routes between the main population centres of New Zealand. Pioneers like George Bolt tested to the limit the capabilities of their flimsy planes in long-distance and high-altitude flights. New Zealanders watched in amazement as record after record fell to the skill and daring of the pioneer aviators – the first crossing of Cook Strait, the flight over Mount Cook, an Auckland to Wellington flight, and then a flight from Timaru to Auckland. Nothing seemed beyond the capability of the wonderful new medium. Even the clergy saw the potential of air travel and the Catholic Bishop of Auckland, Dr Cleary, known as the Flying Bishop, seized the opportunity to charter an aircraft to fly around part of his diocese in the upper part of the North Island. In the meantime, while the government showed very little obvious interest in what was happening in New Zealand aviation, there were moves behind the scenes to deal with problems beginning to become apparent, ultimately even to the politicians. In 1919, without any real enthusiasm, the government enacted legislation to control civil aviation, regulating flight training, pilot registration, and airworthiness 3 The Nation Waited certificates. This was followed in 1920 by the establishment of the Air Board, charged with supporting the development of aviation, both civil and military, in New Zealand. Any action the government took in the early 1920s to encourage the growth of aviation was probably due to the unrelenting pressure, and sustained criticism, from Henry F Wigram (later Sir Henry) who became known as the Father of New Zealand Aviation. In the years following the Great War he would miss no opportunity to criticize the government for its failure to develop a coherent aviation policy. An example of the pressure which Henry Wigram applied was an article that appeared in theLyttelton Timeson 3 January 1923, when he was chairman of the Canterbury (NZ) Aviation Co Ltd. “New Zealand has no reason to be proud of her official record in the matter of aviation since the termination of the War. Of all the young New Zealanders who qualified as pilots or mechanics a bare handful continued in training and those, for the most part, with private companies. The splendid opportunity of establishing an air force for defence purposes was entirely neglected. “The Imperial Government’s free offer of a hundred of the most modern machines was simply declined. Young men who had become expert and who had distinguished themselves during the war were given not the slightest encouragement to continue in training and no provision was made for the training of recruits. “Now that the elections are over it is possible to write on this subject without any suggestion or suspicion of party bias, and I propose to summarise, for the information especially of members of the new Parliament, the story of aviation in New Zealand in the hope that Members on both sides of the House may be induced to give, and insist on the Government giving that consideration to this important subject which it deserves.” After citing a number of specific examples to illustrate the main thrust of his criticism, Wigram concluded: “It is with great reluctance that I have ventured to criticise the Government. I have laid no claim to expert knowledge of any kind, but I am impelled to write because I believe 4 The Age of Apathy that the neglect by the Government to recognise the im- Caudron trainer at mense power of aviation in future warfare, may land this Canterbury Aviation Company’s Sockburn country in fearful disaster.” Airfield (later Wigram) Even with the passing of so many years those words still ring with a group, probably instructors, trainees with the wrath and indignation which prompted Henry Wigram and mechanics. John to put pen to paper. ‘Scotty’ Moncrieff, Few men equalled, and none surpassed, the contribution kneeling at right by the Wigram made to the development of military aviation in New propeller tip, trained Zealand. His vision and unremitting efforts to see the creation at the flying school in January and February of a sensible air defence policy, together with the gifting of 1918. Several men land and money, led to the establishment of a permanent show ‘wings’ badges air force. It was because of his generosity that the Sockburn on their jackets. Airfield in Christchurch was acquired by the government in RNZAF Museum 1923. Renamed Wigram Airfield, it became the first home of the permanent air force in New Zealand. With the government’s lack of interest, but also probably due to the economic downturn which the country faced, by the end of 1923 the initial enthusiasm leading to the expansion of civil aviation had waned and the new medium was allowed to wither.