WW2 Home Guard rifle pits discovered off State Highway 3
Two Home Guard rifle pits from WW2 were found to the north of the intersection of SH3.
Photo:
Supplied/NZTA
A piece of Second World War history has
recently been uncovered
during safety upgrades of State Highway 3 in Taranaki.
Two Home Guard rifle pits were found to the north of the intersection of SH3 and De Havilland Drive in Bell Block on the outskirts of New Plymouth.
The Transport Agency said it was likely they were constructed between 1941 and 1942 as a defensive position to protect the Bell Block Aerodrome on Te Arei Road, which was being used as a Royal New Zealand Air Force training base, from a potential invasion by Japanese forces.
The Home Guard was formed in 1940 in response to the potential threat posed by the Empire of Japan during the Second World War.
Membership was initially voluntary but became compulsory from 1942 for men aged 35-50.
"These are textbook Home Guard pits," SH3 Waitara to Bell Block project archaeologist Daniel McCurdy said.
"These are so textbook, that in fact one of them conforms exactly (within a few inches) to the standard set out for the Home Guard.
"However, instead of an optional drainage trench at the base, the men chose to place timbers instead, likely reclaimed from the local farm."
There had been a number of archaeological finds since physical works began in 2023.
Photo:
Supplied/NZTA
There had been a number of archaeological finds since physical works began in 2023.
Te Ara Tūtohu project manager Calvin Rorke said his team worked closely with archaeologists and cultural monitors in these instances and depend on what was found, the find may be removed or documented and left in place.
"The area we are working in is historically significant. It's important that whenever we come across a potential archaeological find in the course of our work that we take the time necessary to investigate.
"I know that I, and many of us working on Te Ara Tūtohu, have learnt a lot about the history of this area through our work on the project."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsroom
2 days ago
- Newsroom
No one says no in Japan
It was in the Yoshida machiya (merchant house) in Kyoto that I first came to admire those qualities of Japanese architecture that continue to intrigue me. The exposed clarity of post-and-beam structure; the open-plan flow of space, always able to be modified to suit seasonal need by shoji and fusuma screens; the use of patterned wood; the ranma (transoms) that divide ceiling space between rooms; and, of course, the soft, grassy, sweet-smelling tatami. The centre of such a Japanese house is always the tokonoma, a slightly raised, timber-framed alcove with a tatami floor on which a single valued object might be displayed. I have been in so many houses of this kind in the years following yet never once have I failed to be moved by their quiet, subdued elegance. No book can convey the experience of simply walking in these rooms through which the partially screened light from outside seeps through various shading devices. There is no music or extraneous noise, just the sound of foliage rustling, rain falling, wooden doors softly rattling or crows calling. Once, at the temple of Entsu-ji in Northern Kyoto, famous for its use of Shakkei – the borrowed landscape – in this case of sacred Mt Hiei in the far distance – I had to beg for silence. The monks had 'helpfully' installed a sound system over which one of them broadcast a droning, continuous commentary. I could not believe my ears. One of Japan's most famous places for anyone interested in the relationship of buildings to landscape ruined by jabber! I asked for reprieve but only succeeded in having the volume slightly turned down. In New Zealand I would have made more of a fuss but in Japan one does not. This would have incurred the silent stare of incomprehension. Mokusatsu: death by silence. No one says 'No' in Japan. Neither do they give an unequivocal 'Yes'. I had to train my Auckland friend Motoharu that the reply to the question 'Would you like a cup of coffee?' was not 'Are you having one?' I call it the culture of 'maybe'. It takes some getting used to but once one realises that disagreement of any kind in Japan implies some lack of respect for another, then, especially if one is mostly restricted to English, it is necessary to change gear a little. Sometimes in a restaurant – before learning that there is no deviation from what is on the menu – a non-Japanese might ask if the Kewpie mayonnaise on a Toast Morning breakfast salad could be held. Just a moment. The staff member will then disappear and return a short time later with another who will ask you what seems to be the problem. You repeat your request. Ah! Smiling. Just a moment. When the third employee arrives you realise that this is a Committee of NO – however, the word will not be uttered. Never ask for anything that is not on the menu. Insistence never works in Japan; one must simply become Japanese, conforming to established etiquette as politely as the Japanese do themselves. I have watched Americans and Australians yelling and gesticulating at bewildered hotel front desk staff before retreating in anglophonic shame. Nachi: the tallest waterfall in Japan. Etiquette is not a concept about which much is heard nowadays, yet second-hand bookshops used to be filled with solemn volumes on the subject. In the 1970s when table manners came to be regarded as social class indicators many New Zealand parents stopped teaching them. It was never so in Japan. Once, in a Gion restaurant, I watched entranced as a perhaps 20-year-old man manipulated his hashi (chopsticks) and napkin with an elegance bordering on the balletic. After raising food to his mouth he covered it with his cupped spare hand so that the act of chewing was obscured. Then, in slow motion, he would raise his napkin to his face, pat it lightly and then place it on his lap again before beginning the same seamless ritualistic movement for the next mouthful. In November 2014 I went to look at Kengo Kuma's elegant OMI Steak House in the now demolished Kokusai Hotel in Kyoto and decided that it would be a crime not to eat there. Seated, like everyone else, above the spotless central cooking area I had a perfect view of the culinary processes and of the other guests. Soon I became aware that an ancient lady was looking at me with some interest, smiling. I returned the gesture eventually raising my glass, as she also did. It crossed my mind that she must be a former geisha, such being the delicacy of her movement and facial expression. When the white-uniformed chef brought me another glass of chablis I asked him who she was. 'That is Sumiko. She is 90 years old. She comes here once a week.' After some further glass raising I got up from my bench and moved over to sit beside her. She seemed delighted, placing her hand over mine while we talked in both languages and did a lot of silent smiling and bowing. Lacking the financial resources ever to contemplate visiting an establishment where I might have been served by geisha I determined to enjoy this one encounter to the full. Yes, she did indeed like champagne, so I bought us both a glass. The graceful arabesques she drew in the air with her hands as we eventually said goodbye were as entrancing as the way in which she had used her chopsticks. Taken with kind permission from the extraordinary new travel memoir Japan: An autobiography by Peter Shaw (Six Point Press, $45), available from selected bookstores or direct from the publisher.
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- NZ Herald
Okinawa explosion at US base injures four Japanese SDF members
An explosion injured four men at a Japanese facility for storing unexploded bombs at a US air base in Okinawa on Monday, a fire official said, with their condition reportedly not critical. Japan Self-Defence Forces (SDF) members at the facility at Kadena Air Base were trying to wipe rust off
RNZ News
7 days ago
- RNZ News
New Plymouth council to undertake safety audit of new cycleway
Devon Intermediate School principal Jenny Gellen says the cycleway is an accident waiting to happen. Photo: RNZ/ Robin Martin A safety audit has been ordered for a controversial cycleway that has divided opinions in New Plymouth, with a view to identify improvements that can be made to the design. Contractors began installing 4 kilometres of concrete separators for the dedicated cycleway earlier this year and most have been in place since April. The $3.8 million NZTA Transport Choices project along Devon Street West and South Road was developed in conjunction with the New Plymouth District council and fully funded through the Transport Agency. New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom said the cycleway was always going to be controversial, with submissions on the project being split 50/50 for and against. "Once construction has been completed our team will undertake a safety review to assess the new layout, feedback from road users and the views of residents living along the route. "I have asked our team to report back following that process to provide council with any options available to improve the design." Since the beginning of the installation of the concrete separators, which have been nicknamed Tim Tams due to their resemblance to the popular biscuits, there has been a flood of complaints. Residents and businesses have griped about lost car parks, motorists have hit the raised separators damaging tyres and wheel rims, and others have said they couldn't pull over to allow emergency services through because of them. NZTA director of regional relationships Linda Stewart said it was important to note the new cycleway was not yet complete. "We are not aware of any significant safety concerns with the cycleway construction at this stage. "Once it is complete any new roadway layout then has a 'transition' period where it is monitored, and adjustments or fine-tuning is carried out. Equally, road users also take a period of adjustment to new road layouts including cycleways, signalised intersections etc." Stewart said NZTA had worked closely with NPDC on the design and construction phase of the project and would continue to do so in the post-construction phase." North Taranaki Cycling Advocates member Elric Aublant says the concrete separators remind vehicles to stay in their lane. Photo: RNZ/ Robin Martin Devon Intermediate School principal Jenny Gellen, whose school was meant to benefit from the cycleway, said the concrete separators were too many in number and too large. "You'd actually have to be driving a quite high-set car, anything that's lower to the ground you're going to take out the bottom of your motor and I don't know what's going to happen to your tyres." The principal had even more serious concerns about the layout of a new pedestrian crossing at Belt Road, a short distance from Devon Intermediate, which was mainly used by West End primary school pupils. It now featured two car parks on the road side of the cycleway separator. "So, students can be standing on the pedestrian crossing with cars parked out in front of it and the students can't been seen by the cars coming down the road ... and the students have to be well out on the pedestrian crossing before they can see the cars. "I have a serious concern that that's actually an accident waiting to happen and it won't be a pretty one." Principal Jenny Gellen says she has serious concerns about road safety. Photo: RNZ/ Robin Martin North Taranaki Cycling Advocates Group member Elric Aublant rode his bike every day along South Road on his commute to town until recently moving house. He said the previous, painted-on cycling lane wasn't adequate. "Even when there was quite a decent shoulder space, there were a lot of cars running inside the bike lane, so really not giving cyclists enough space." Aublant had been back to try the new dedicated lane and liked what he saw. "And, so yes, the concrete blocks some people think it is quite an issue because people are hitting them, but I personally think it's a good separation and it's actually forcing drivers to stick to their lane and share the road with other users. "And, yeah, it's a much more safe, more pleasant commute on that road now." He hoped that as people became more familiar with the cycle lanes more would get back on their bikes and try them out. Emergency services providers had a mixed views on the cycleway separators. FENZ Taranaki district manager David Utumapu said it made its concerns known during the submissions process. "We advised the council that we were concerned that traffic might not be able to clear the lane when an emergency vehicle is behind them. "It seems to us that people are not always sure what to do when we're behind them, and few seem willing to drive over the lane separators, leaving a narrow gap on the centreline for our trucks to use." Police did not raise concerns about the cycle lane separators and Hato Hone St John area operations manager Blair Walton said it took part in the 2023 public consultation on their installation and "had no concerns at the time". "As it's early days we're monitoring the situation and how the new layout is working in practice." NZTA's Linda Stewart said concrete cycleway separators had been used safely internationally and in New Zealand. Guidance on the safe use and design of separators was on its website. "To achieve the space for the cycleway, essentially one side of parking was removed. The separators effectively act as a parked car in most respects. Drivers can continue until there is a gap in the separators where it's safe to pull over and stop." Council's major projects and planning manager Andrew Barron said the cycle lane separators were designed to best-practice standards. "Similar cycleways have been installed in other cities across the country. "We understood that there would be a settling-in period as drivers get used to the changed road layout. The separators themselves are not causing the accidents. "We appreciate that previously, drivers could use the cycle lane to manoeuvre into and this ability has been removed to increase the safety of cyclists." Barron said the approved designs allowed most cars, as well as emergency vehicles, the ability to negotiate them as the road width had in most instances stayed the same. "The separators are low enough for most cars to straddle without them hitting the bottom of the car." Construction of the cycleway was due to be complete later this month. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
