ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 204437
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| Date: | Wednesday 25 September 1946 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  De Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth |
| Owner/operator: | GP Flt RNZAF |
| Registration: | NZ732 |
| MSN: | 3426 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Rongotai, Wellington 1 -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Rongotai, Wellington, New Zealand |
First registered (C of R 6351) on 2.10.35 as G-ADUK to the London Aeroplane Club Ltd., Hatfield, Hertfordshire. C of A 5137 issued 26.10.35. C of A expired 20.2.40. UK registration G-ADUK cancelled 14.2.40 and shipped to New Zealand for RNZAF.
Brought On Charge with Unit 18 at Rongotai on 9.6.40. With No.3 EFTS, Harewood 1942. Fitted with a canopy during 1944. To No.42 Squadron in July 1945 and used as a reserve aircraft for fire watching duties based at Rotorua.
Destroyed by fire in the Exhibition Buildings, Rongotai, Wellington, on 25.9.46. Written off the books at Rongotai, NZ same day. According to an account published in "stuff.co.nz" in 2016 (see link #9):
"Spectacular fire remembered 65 years on
After the exhibition ended in May 1940, its pavilions were requisitioned for World War II use, including the storage of wool owned by the Wool Disposals Commission and planes by the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Airman second class J McGregor saw flames racing along the roof and down wool bales about 3am. He woke two airmen sleeping in the building and they jumped from the nearest window and ran to the administration block to summon the fire brigade. They had leapt to safety with just what they were wearing.
An air force fire crew discovered two more airmen asleep in smoke- filled quarters in another part of the building. The men escaped with time to retrieve their belongings. Fire engines from the Newtown, Miramar, Wellington central and Thorndon stations raced to join the air force appliance. All the crews could do was prevent the flames devouring nearby buildings.
The blaze illuminated the whole city sky and deposited ash as far away as the grounds of Hataitai School. A policeman on the beat said it was the most appalling thing he had ever seen - the showers of sparks were thrust skywards after the building's roof and walls fell.
Explosions from disintegrating asbestos sidings fired fragments as far as 50 metres, and kept the firemen ducking for some minutes. The arrival of heavy rain at 4am gave firemen little assistance, and the wool bales continued to burn into the afternoon.
Finance Minister Walter Nash said the 27,000 bales of wool lost in the blaze were covered by insurance. Their reported value was £600,000 GBP (equivalent to $55 million NZD today).
Although newspaper coverage focused on the loss and later salvage of the stored wool, there was even more carnage. The air force lost five planes in the blaze - two Tiger Moths, a Harvard and two instructional machines - and 18 Gipsy aircraft engines.
Two years earlier, the fire would have been more costly for the air force with the requisitioned planes in its use. Captain George Eyston's Thunderbolt racing car, a world land speed record-holder of the late 1930s, was a popular attraction at the exhibition. The car was stored in the same building as the wool and aircraft, and incinerated with them.
None of the exhibition complex remains today. Part of the main building was demolished for the expansion of Wellington airport in the 1950s"
The Exhibition buildings were very temporary, having being built for the 1940 centennial exhibition, and weren't designed to last too long! (Plans envisaged using the building only for six months and then dismantling it). The centennial buildings were used extensively as a Technical Training School by the RNZAF during the war years
Several other aircraft were destroyed in the fire, including Howard DGA-15P ZK-AHP of the Superior Oil Co.Ltd., Wellington, along with RNZAF Tiger Moths NZ732 and NZ826. The air force lost five planes in the blaze - two Tiger Moths, a Harvard and two instructional machines - and 18 Gipsy aircraft engines. Also lost was George Eyston's Thunderbolt world land speed record car. It had been sent out for the Centennial in 1940 and was being stored there until there was post war shipping space to return it to the UK
Sources:
1. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/component/content/article?id=78
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ADUK.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A7.html
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p034.html
5. NZ Serials: www.adf-serials.com.au/nz-serials/nzdh82.htm
6. https://rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/2097/aircraft-lost-wellington-fire?page=1
7. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Centennial_Exhibition#Post-exhibition_war-time_use
9. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/features/5664887/Spectacular-fire-remembered-65-years-on
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Jan-2018 00:09 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 15-Jan-2018 00:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator] |
| 20-May-2018 02:59 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator] |
| 14-Sep-2020 22:19 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator] |
| 29-Aug-2021 00:40 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 29-Aug-2021 00:44 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 09-Oct-2021 22:23 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator] |
| 26-Jan-2022 06:10 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 31-Jan-2022 03:41 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 13-Feb-2022 01:34 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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