TE RAPA AIR FORCE STORES DEPOT

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5293, 4 January 1947, Page 6

TE RAPA AIR FORCE STORES DEPOT

Large Establishment To Be Retained During the war, Air Force camps were constructed in Hamilton to accommodate the many workers required, and over 2000 personnel were there during the height of the Pacific war. A huge camp was also constructed at Te Rapa adjacent to tke stores and here the staff numbered over 300 during those years. Now the war has been over for nearly 18 months and all camps in the city have been closed. The Waikato airport is now little more than a storing place for 475 aircraft. The ultimate fate of these aircraft, ■ which rcpresent a sum amounting to some millions of pounds, has yet to be decided, but as most of the machines are now well out-dated, there seems every chance that the majority of them will face ultimate destruction. Kowever, Hamilton is not to lose its pre-eminent position as a Royal New Zealand Air Force stores and equipment depot, as the Te Rapa camp will remain one of the most important of the service's peacetime establishments. A tremendous amount of work, both in connection with the rebuilding of the camp to cater for the needs of the pei'sonnel at such an important station and in the disposal oi' the thousands of tons and millions of pounds' worth of equipment at r-resent in store, will be necessary at Te Rapa over- the next few years. The present strength at Te Rapa is about 150, and from the importance of the stores and the part the station is intended to play in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, it is anticipated that the average strength of the station will be in the vicinity o ' 200. The station commander is S~uadron-Leader H. G. Wilson, M.M., and the adjutant, Flight-Lieu-tenant E. Shaw, D.F.C.