LINTON CAMP

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26041, 3 January 1946, Page 4

LINTON CAMP

NEW ARMY HEADQUARTERS PLANNED ON SPACIOUS LINES Linton camp, which, it was recently announced, is to take the place of Trentham as the principal military camp in New Zealand, is seven miles from Palmerston North. It extends for a mile or more from the main Palmerston North-Wellington (via Shannon) main highway to the Manawatu River, and lies near the foothills of the Tararua Ranges. It is built on country which is practically flat, with a gentle slope to the west. Built after the full establishment of Waiouru as a military camp, Linton (states the Auckland Star) gained from the experience of the design employed at Waiouru, and much more ground has been used in layipg out the seven blocks now provided for the accommodation of troops. Not all of these blocks are fully provided with hut accommodation. For the men’s quarters, eight-men huts with four sets of two-tier bunks are used and each of the blocks has an asphalt parade ground, with the various headquarters and company buildings grouped around it. The interior roads are sealed and are named after leading soldiers in the Dominion. Numbers of home defence units were quartered in Linton camp during the war, and large numbers of troops were prepared there for embarkation for the Middle East or for the Pacific. For a time the Central Military District Training Unit and the Initial Training Wing of the Royal New Zealand Air Force were at Linton. Both of these units gave incoming trainees their elementary instruction for their respective services. Branch Railway Provided The camp is served by a branch railway from Linton station, there being a siding at the lower end of the camp with the buildings visible from the main railway line near the Longburn railway bridge. Travellers on the main highway in the war years often missed seeing the camp because all the buildings were painted green. Now. however, a considerable number have been painted cream. From about Christmas, 1941, when general mobilisation of home defence units was ordered following the entry of Japan into the war, nearly all the schools in Palmerston North were taken over to provide accommodation for army units, and a newly-completed intermediate school was used as an emergency hospital for a considerable period. „ , The strategic importance of the area around the Manawatu standing at the crossroads between Wellington and Taranaki, the middle-island districts, the north. Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay and the east coast, became fully apparent. The construction of Linton camp was then expedited, and several units moved in in the succeeding months. All of the seven blocks are nearly identical, although a certain amount of building has yet to be done in some. Each block is equipped with its own boiler house (fitted with a boiler from a railway engine) and the steam is used for shower rooms, ablution blocks and some cooking. The remainder of the cooking is done with large oil-burning stoves. A feature of the camp was the amount of hot water available when large bodies of troops were in the camp. Artesian water has been tapped at a number of points and an up-to-date sewerage system with modern fittings has been installed. Recreation Huts In the war years five recreation huts were in operation, these being conducted by the Y.M.C.A., the Salvation Army, the Catholic Institute, the Church Army, and the Everyman's Organisation. There is a large picture theatre, a post office building, library building, fire station, and hospital. It is apparent that more building will have to be undertaken to equip the camp to the standard of Trentham. but there are large areas of ground which provide room for expansion without interfering with the blocks now there. The construction of the buildings in wood with solid concrete foundations indicated that Linton was intended to be permanent.