Hobsonville Airbase (N.Z.)

Date: [187-?],[ca 1895], [ca 1914-1940s], 1953

From: Harper, James Edward, fl 2004 :Photographs

By: Busch, Louis W, active 1872

Reference: PAColl-9885

Description: Photographs collected by Jim Harper. 23 relate to the New Zealand airforce. 12 are of other subjects. Comprises: Photographs relating to James Frederick Henessy Harper's (donor's father) service with the New Zealand airforce between 1935-1940s, and 1953. Includes a set of images of Hobsonville Airbase, Auckland; a set of images showing the HMS Dunedin in 'Gulf'; airforce aeroplanes -Gipsy Moths, Fairey IIIF floatplane, Hawker Hind; military personnel including the 'Houhora Boys'; J F H Harper at Hobsonville with the aeroplane 'Faith in Australia' circa 1936; RAF pilot Ian Reid during training at Bell Block, New Plymouth; fully identified group portrait of RNZAF Signals conference, April 1953. A range of other images including a carte-de-visite of a scene with horses at (Belfast, Canterbury?) taken by L W Busch circa 1872-3; photographs given to the donor by the famiy of Frances Hodgkins showing Cobb & Co coaches and a homestead of Oamaru stone taken circa 1890s; WWI soldiers; views of the Bay of Islands beaches - Long Beach and Paihia, circa 1920s; the Hermitage Hotel, Mount Cook in 1938; group in a canoe at Halcombe, Manawatu, circa 1920s-1930s; buildings on the road by the Chateau Tongariro (State Highway 48) circa 1938; group portrait of the Spinsters' Club, circa 1942 Accompanying information - Copy of a newspaper article about the Spinsters' Club is at PAColl-9885-34 Quantity: 35 b&w original photographic print(s) comprising 36 images. Physical Description: Photographic prints

Date: 10 Mar 2004

From: MOTAT: Aviation memories oral history project

By: Curtis, Douglas, 1919-2008

Reference: OHInt-0767-05

Description: Interview with Doug (Douglas) Curtis, born in Hastings in 1919. Recalls joining the Air Force in August 1939 and being sent to Levin and then to Hobsonville where he learnt to pack parachutes and to repair fabric work on aircraft. Refers to being sent to Ohakea and then to Nadi Base, Fiji in November 1940, which was then just a flat field with no runway, hangars or barracks. Mentions the base had Repeater and Tiger Moth aircraft, which had to be sheltered in dugouts during hurricanes. Comments the Repeaters were used for surveillance, and that they had more De Havilland four engine planes after the hurricanes. Mentions his term of duty was extended to 2 1/2 years, with the number of planes at the base climbing to seventy. Refers to an American base being built nearby, and American planes refuelling en route to Australia. Comments on guarding the runway at Nadi and threatening to shoot Americans who cut across it. Talks about the Americans being very lenient with equipment. Discusses being in Fiji when Singapore fell, and having been sent to Singapore in a Flying Boat. Comments on the monotony of base life, coral poisoning, and sugar trains. Recalls catching buses, Indian shops, walking into the bush, and being taken to Fijian villages. Talks about returning to New Zealand by sea in April 1943 and going back to Hastings until he was sent to Onerahi and then to Hobsonville where he saw WAFs for the first time. Refers to supervising five women who packed parachutes and repaired fabric. Mentions attending a safety equipment course in Nelson and then looking after safety equipment at Hobsonville. Comments on how he found out the war was over, having leave, and marrying three days later. Abstracted by - Jean Ford Interviewer(s) - Roger Munns Accompanying material - RNZAF From Ground Level One Airman's Views and Experiences - Doug Curtis, filed with abstract OHA-5120 Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-014158, OHC-014159 Quantity: 2 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 Electronic document(s) (35 Kilobytes). 1 digital photograph(s) (608 Kilobytes, jpeg). 1 interview(s). 1.15 Hours and minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-5120, OHDL-000228. Digital photograph of Doug Curtis in his home, 2004 (MOTAT photograph) Search dates: 1919 - 1939 - 2004 - 1945

Date: 24 October 1945

From: Evening post (Newspaper. 1865-2002) :Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post newspaper

Reference: PAColl-10612-12

Description: Vickers Vildebeest NZ102 biplane inside a hangar at the Hobsonville air base. Photograph taken by Auckland Star. Copy negative made with reference number 154634-1/2 Quantity: 1 b&w original photographic print(s).

Date: 1937

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-AVH-05-08-G

Description: Photograph taken by Whites Aviation or predecessor. Title taken from original enclosure. Arrangement: Original box labelled "Union Airways| Electras Arrival| N.Z. Flights 1937" and "HR White Personal". Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Glass negative, 1/4 plate. Processing information: Description created from original item housing. Item has not been previewed as part of processing.

Date: 25 May 1948

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-13125a-G

Description: Photograph taken by Whites Aviation. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Glass negative, 3.25 x 4.25 inches

Date: [ca 1920s-1960s]

By: Bridle, Marcus, 1970-

Reference: ATL-Group-00049

Description: A collection of photographic negatives and prints of mainly New Zealand civil and military aircraft, taken by unknown photographers, possibly between 1920s to 1960s. It is not known when the collection was assembled. The earliest images are of an airplane that flew from Invercargill to Auckland in 1921, which appear to have been taken at the conclusion of that flight. The largest part of the collection is two sequences of negatives, one of New Zealand civil aircraft and one of New Zealand military aircraft (which also includes some images of Australian, British, American, and Canadian registered aircraft). The original glassine enclosures for the negatives had either typed or handwritten identification of the images, in most cases. Although many of the negative enclosures that are not typed are labelled in the same hand in black ink, some are labelled in blue ballpoint pen, which may have been done after the collection was assembled. Frequently there was also a set of initials in the bottom left corner of the envelope; either 'WP', 'KM' or 'LD'. The latter was almost always followed by a 'N' and a three digit number. It is possible that 'KM' is Ken Meehan, who photographed aircraft in the 1950s and 1960s; 'WP' may be William Penelligan, who was active in Mangere in the mid-1950s, and worked in the publishing section at White's Aviation. The initals 'LD' are Les Downey, who worked at TEAL and also in the publishing section at White's Aviation. It is also possible that some photographs were taken by Leo White or other staff of White's Aviation. Typically the images are identified by the registration identifier only; sometimes accompanied by a three or four digit number. Some of the enclosures identify when and where the photographs were taken, and those are mainly at air shows in the late 1940s and early 1950s, at Mangere, Waharoa, Whenuapai, Rukuhia, Hobsonville, Ardmore, and Rongotai airfields. The collection also includes photographic prints of aircraft and related subjects, most of which appear to be images from the negatives, and a sequence of prints and negatives originally kept together in labelled envelopes. Arrangement: The negatives were originally arranged in two sequences (New Zealand civil and miltary aircraft) in two metal two-drawer index card cabinets. Most of the prints were purchased by the vendor loose in a box, and he arranged them into sequences according to subject and/or markings on the backs of the prints. There was one sequence of prints and negatives together in labelled envelopes. Quantity: 2724 b&w original negative(s). 413 b&w original photographic print(s). Provenance: The collection had been in the vendor's possession for about five years. It was purchased by the vendor from a second-hand bookshop in Onehunga. It is possible that it came to the bookshop from the estate of William Penelligan, photographer of aircraft and a member of the Aviation Historical Society. It is also possible that the photographs were originally the collection of Whites Aviation, and were used in the production of the company's aviation-related magazines.

Date: 1937

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-AVH-05-09-G

Description: Photograph taken by Whites Aviation or predecessor. Title taken from original enclosure. Arrangement: Original box labelled "Union Airways| Electras Arrival| N.Z. Flights 1937" and "HR White Personal". Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Glass negative, 1/4 plate. Processing information: Description created from original item housing. Item has not been previewed as part of processing.

Date: 17 Nov 1955

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-39926-F

Description: Aerial photograph taken by Whites Aviation. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative, 1/2 plate

Date: 17 Nov 1955

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-39925-F

Description: Aerial photograph taken by Whites Aviation. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative, 1/2 plate

Date: 7 Feb 1969

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-68256-G

Description: Aerial photograph taken by Whites Aviation. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Glass negative, 4.75 x 6.5 inches

Date: 25 May 1948

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-13117-F

Description: Photograph taken by Whites Aviation. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative, 1/2 plate

Date: Nov 1938

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-21415-G

Description: Photograph taken by Leo White Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Glass negative, 3.25 x 4.25 inches

Date: 17 Mar 1949

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-19617-F

Description: 41 Transport Squadron RNZAF. Aerial photograph taken by Whites Aviation. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative, 1/2 plate

Date: 25 May 1948

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-13121-F

Description: Photograph taken by Whites Aviation. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative, 1/2 plate

Date: 17 Mar 1949

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-19646-F

Description: Aerial photograph taken by Whites Aviation. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative, 1/2 plate

Date: Feb 1950

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-23997-F

Description: Photographs taken by Whites Aviation Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative, ¼ plate

Date: 25 May 1948

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-13122-F

Description: Photograph taken by Whites Aviation. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative, 1/2 plate

Date: Feb 1950

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-23998-F

Description: Photographs taken by Whites Aviation Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative, ¼ plate

Date: [194-?]

From: Morrison, John Craig, 1918-1944 :Photographs relating to the Navy during World War II

Reference: 1/2-123715-F

Description: Left to right: S/Lt Harris, Cpl Maitland, Petty Officer Windlenorn, Tame WAAF Cornflake, LAM Sunman, S/Lt Bell-Booth, Petty Officer Roberts, Cpl Dawson, ACI Hughes, AM Dibley, AB Gubb, LAM Maidment, C/Lr Billings, L/Airman Boock. Photographer unidentified. Quantity: 1 b&w copy negative(s). Physical Description: Film negative

Date: Feb 1950

From: Whites Aviation Ltd: Photographs

Reference: WA-23996-F

Description: Photograph taken by Whites Aviation depicting two aircraft parked on an aerodrome tarmac, a Pan Ameican world airlines airplane, and the nose of an unidentified aircraft. The aerodrome may in fact be Whenuapai Aerodrome. Title taken from negative register. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Cellulosic film negative, ¼ plate Processing information: Record edited 7 February 2024 to add possible location information.