Today I have a follow-up from my last post! Consistently, just next door to Army Bay is the, well, real Army-- a Hibiscus Coast outpost that was at one point a resettlement facility. If you view the location and then go to Street View and 'walk' east, eventually you'll come to its 'No Entry' sign and suddenly double-clicking won't take you any further because the Google camera car must have been turned away.
Fittingly, as I was walking along the beach I found an old military installation.
I found a sign telling me it was a machine-gun hideout, just in case the Japanese invaded.
It was a bit overgrown, and the door was hidden by a big clump of swordgrass. I worked my way in ever so carefully.
It looked kind of like you might expect inside. It smelled benign, which I gotta admit I was not expecting. I appreciated that.
And here's the view through the window. It makes me reflect that of all the jobs one might have had during WWII, being a gunner stationed here must have been pretty decent.
Fittingly, as I was walking along the beach I found an old military installation.
I found a sign telling me it was a machine-gun hideout, just in case the Japanese invaded.
It was a bit overgrown, and the door was hidden by a big clump of swordgrass. I worked my way in ever so carefully.
It looked kind of like you might expect inside. It smelled benign, which I gotta admit I was not expecting. I appreciated that.
And here's the view through the window. It makes me reflect that of all the jobs one might have had during WWII, being a gunner stationed here must have been pretty decent.
3 comments:
I think you are right about being a decent place considering the alternatives also. Do you know if it was ever attacked? I love history and I enjoy seeing and learning about the history of New Zealand.
It's interesting that this old machine gun outpost (aka pillbox)is now defended by swordgrass.
Like McKenzie, I wonder too if it was ever attacked - but then I remember in at least one of your past blog posts showing the remains of a plane in the forest - and I think most surely if not that particular location, NZ certainly was!
Thanks for the fascinating history lessons!
No, NZ was never attacked during WWII, although apparently German and Japanese submarines made some threatening gestures inside NZ waters and Japanese reconnaisance planes flew over the cities from time to time.
It must have been pretty scary--I mean, Japan isn't that far away and to my thinking an attack on NZ would have been a strategic no-brainer. I'm just glad they didn't, for whatever reason.
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