CHAPTER ONE The Age of Apathy

n , 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 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 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 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 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

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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. However there were some encouraging signs in the field of military aviation.

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Sir Henry Wigram ir Henry Francis Wigram (1857-1934) was San early promoter of aviation in New Zea- land, especially active during and after World War One. British-born Wigram was the son of barrister Henry Knox Wigram and Mary Ann Pomeroy, a daughter of the 5th Viscount Harberton. He was educated at Harrow School before working at the Bank of England and a shipping company. Ill-health persuaded him to emigrate to the healthy climate of New Zealand in 1883. He returned briefly to England in 1885 to marry Agnes Vernon. The couple had no children. Together with his brother William, Henry bought a malthouse and brickworks business in the , between Christchurch and Lyttelton. They expanded, taking over two Henry Wigram in 1903. Public Domain other brickworks and pipeworks and founding a nail factory and seed company. His prominence in business led to Wigram being invited to chair the committee for the Canter- bury Jubilee celebration in 1900, and he remained heavily involved in public affairs for the next thirty years, becoming Christchurch’s mayor in 1902. On 22 June 1903, Wigram was appointed to the Legislative Council by the Liberal government. He retired from business but retained a number of compa- ny directorships, including that of the newspaper. He resigned from the Legislative Council in October 1920. The possibilities of aviation became apparent to Wigram during a visit to England in 1908. The New Zealand government did not share his enthusiasm so he formed a private flying school in Christchurch in 1916, the second in the country after the Walsh brothers’ New Zealand Flying School in Auckland. Wigram bought land at Sockburn for his Canterbury (NZ) Aviation Compa- ny and purchased three Caudron biplanes from Britain. The school aimed to train pilots for the war and promote aviation for local defence and commerce. By 1919, the school had built ten aircraft and trained 182 pilots, including John Moncrieff. Wigram offered the school to the government for defence purposes, but it took another four years and £10,000 donation before his offer was accepted. The airfield at Sockburn was renamed Wigram in honour of its founder.

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Wigram was also one of the founders of the Canterbury Aero Club and the first patron of the New Zealand Aero Club in 1930. He was knighted in the 1926 New Year Honours ‘in recognition of his public services’. In 1949, his widow Agnes presented the Lady Wigram Trophy, and an annual motor race was established at the Wigram airbase.

As the 1920s began there was general, if reluctant, accep- tance that the future defence strategy for New Zealand must incorporate the use of air as well as land and sea forces. The start of the decade saw the establishment of an Air Board to advise the Minister of Defence on all matters relating to avia- tion. The remarkable feature about the initial composition of the board was that not one member knew anything about aviation. They were all top brass from the army, navy, and a variety of government departments. Following caustic press criticism, the government hastily appointed Captain Tom Wilkes, a qualified pilot and combat veteran, as secretary to the board. In the meantime the two existing flying schools in New Zea- land, in Auckland and at Sockburn, Christchurch, where so many young pilots had received their basic training during the Great War, were in a quandary. With no more military pilots to train they faced an uncertain future, mostly surviving with government grants. However, in February 1923, the Canterbury Aviation Com- pany at Sockburn, in a commendable display of initiative, began to offer refresher training to airmen who had seen service in the Great War, under the direction of Captain Leonard Isitt. Captain Isitt later held high rank in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War Two and played a prominent role in the development of civil aviation in New Zealand in the immediate post-war years. The refresher courses were fairly casual gatherings and most of the pilots, who had served overseas during World War One, wore civilian clothes, although some brought their old wartime flying kit. When Ivan Kight attended these courses he took his full flying gear of helmet, jacket, pants, and boots, all neatly stowed in a wooden box he had used during his service on the Western Front in 1916. Kight’s flying gear is now safely in the hands of the RNZAF Museum at Wigram. 7 The Nation Waited

New Zealand Air Force In Auckland the New Zealand Flying School provided a refresher course, refresher course for officers in 1923. Apparently it was the mid-1920s, in front of a Bristol Fighter. The only course staged, and the school closed the following year. varied clothing suggests While the refresher courses may not have achieved a great a casual approach. deal in terms of improving the flying skills of the pilots, they George Hood stands did keep together the pool of expertise and experience which fourth from left; John Moncrieff sits at right. proved so valuable at the outbreak of World War Two. The Secretary of the The New Zealand Permanent Air Force (NZPAF) was es- Air Board, Major Tom tablished in June 1923, as part of the NZ military forces. Wilkes, stands at left. By the end of that year it comprised four officers and five Wairarapa Archive other ranks under the command of Major Wilkes who was 09-130/47 based at Defence Headquarters in Wellington. Captain Leo- nard Isitt was the commanding officer at Wigram Airfield. With the passing of the Air Force Act on 1 April 1937, the Royal New Zealand Air Force became a separate branch of the New Zealand defence forces. The New Zealand (Territorial) Air Force was also established in 1923, under the command of Major . In the NZ Gazette of 21 June 1923, the names of the 72 officers ap-

8 The Age of Apathy pointed to that service were promulgated at the ranks shown effective from 14 June 1923. The three main players in the trans-Tasman project, Ivan Kight, George Hood, and Scotty Moncrieff, were foundation members of the Territorial Air Force, with Kight and Hood appointed as lieutenants, and Moncrieff a 2nd lieutenant. All the men appointed to the NZTAF had served as pilots during World War One and several held awards for gallantry. A number in this intake went on to hold senior positions, and to serve with distinction, in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War Two. The Age of Apathy may have opened on to a bleak vista but it ended on a note of high promise.

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