WAIOURU MILITARY CAMP

Camp News (Northern Command), Volume 1, Issue 28, 8 November 1940, Page 8

WAIOURU MILITARY CAMP

Plans For Comfort Of Soldiers PROVISION OF 100-BED HOSPITAL All but one of the battalion areas will be tented as far as sleeping accommodation for men is concerned. The reason why one will have hut sleeping accommodation is this: The contractors’ workmen had to have hutments, and it was felt more economic that there should be erected structures which would be afterward useful for Army purposes rather than temporary buildings which would be pulled down when the job was finished, with resultant waste of timber and labour. There may l>e some competition as to which battalion will have the hutment sleeping quarters, and it may be a case of first come, first served. ’ Two coke-firing steam baker's ovens each 10 feet by 7 feet high and 12 feet deep will bake bread for 8000 . men without difficulty. There will be no need for the average housewife’s anxious peeping into the oven to see how the bake is faring. The interiors are electrically lit and visible from the outside. There are face clocks and thermometers on each oven. Fresh bread is not served in camps and adjoining the bakery is a' room with shelves for thousands of loaves.

The men’s shower block in each area will have 50 showers. Half of these will have pull attachments to be operated by the user, regulating the warmth of the water. Hot and cold water .over the ablution benches will be an innovation in New Zealand camps. The lavatory accommodation also is modern, with more privacy than is usually given in military camps. Officers’ and N.C.O.’s blocks will have enclosed showers, hand basins with hot and cold water, and baths. Each of these shower, laundry and ablution blocks will have its own hot water supply. ■- 100-Bed Hospital. A 100-bed hospital block, fully equipped, has been erected. Two 50-bed wards, subdivided, form the sides of the block ; they are built to get the sun and a day-long view of Mount Ruapehu. The administrative offices, kitchen, laundry, dispensary and other necessary buildings, form the centre of the block. The nurses’ home nearby will house 16 nurses; a room each for the matron and two sisters, and two nurses to a,room, each of which has two wardrobes. The nurses’ home has also a glassed-in sun balcony facing the mountain. The entire, hospital block is separated from rhe camp proper by a belt of huge pine trees. , - Water for all purposes for the camp, including sewerage, comes from a speci-ally-constructed dam in the hills which traps the water from the Waiouru stream. This comes down from a 40 feet fall. It is good, clear, mountain water, ice cold. The camp streets have already been named—Karamea, Moerangi, Kaikoura, Ruahine, Waitakere, Ruapehu, Maunganui, Ngaruhoe, Kaimanawa, Hikurangi. Tauhara, Aorangi, and Pirongia. Fire Precautions. The camp has already a fire station with engine. and accommodation for a firemaster and five- firemen on the premises. For safety, there is a 30 to 45 feet break between all buildings. There is as yet no clue as to the origin of rhe fire which destroyed a large mess block at the camp recently, and no claimants to the £IOO reward -which the three camp contractors have offered for information leading to the discovery of whoever was responsible. Electric power for the thousands of points and the many electrically-driven machines and engines in the camp will be generated by a Diesel engine plant, 14 feet high and 21 feet long, with a capacity of 438 k.v.a. There is a 100 k.v.a. auxiliary, but rater both plants may be relegated to the position of auxiliaries. This power plant can serve a good-sized borough,

The post, telegraph t.nd money order office and savings bank, a building occupying 100 by 30 feet, has been operating some time. Here a soldier will be able to transact any item of postal business that he could do in a city office. There are-telephone slots for bureau calls. ■ Old Homestead to Go. The old Waiouru station homestead is to be demolished. A. residence for the camp commandant will replace this homestead, which is one of the oldest in the district, the property itself having at various periods in its long history passed through the hands of many wellknown sheepfarming families. Waiouru will also have the distinction of being one of the few camps where horses will be used for military purposes. There will not be many, but some will be required for officers when they go over, the hill country to plan exercises and manoeuvres. Special stables are being erected. The formation work of the 1000 feet raised railway platform for the Waiouru branch line is in the final stages. Tracks are being formed and rails laid for the detour from the main line at Waiouru station on the main AucklandWellington! route. The recreation area is 460 feet by 515. There are situated the Y.M.C.A., Salvation Army and. Church Army social rooms. The Catholic Church authorities will also erect a social room there. Everyman’s Hut is nearby. Here, also, the foundations of a theatre to seat 850 have been completed A Picture Record? The camp has not tacked pictures so far. In fact, it may Lave established a record for change of programmes. There have been pictures with changes of programme nightly flvi times a week. This has been arranged by Mr. Adams, who represents the Y.M.C.A. in the camp, but once the troops move. in and the new Y.M.C.A. rooms are opened there will be a staff of six. A dry canteen has also been operated by the Y.M.C.A. in temporary premises. The new Y.M.C.A., now almost finished, will have a concert hall 115 by 30 feet,.with stage and dressing-rooms, reading and writing-room with library, 100 by 25 feet, billiard-room 100 by 25 feet, with seven tables, two chaplains’ sitting-rooms, secretary’s office, officers’ lounge with billiard table, librarian’s room and kitchen. This part of the camp is meant to be kept warm; there are 14 fireplaces in it. It is the first time in a New Zealand camp that special accommodation for officers has been provided in a social hut. The Y.M.C.A. social block is stated to be the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

If the men still feel energetic after a day’s drill or manoeuvres there will be no lack of sports’ areas. There is a formed football field and also acres of flat land readily adaptable for playing fields. ' To the south of the camp a fullsized rifle range will be provided, the land being already level for the purpose, and a machine-gun range of up to a mile will also be available. For training purposes, there is at least 100,000 acres of land—plain, undulating country and steep hills. There are three contractors as well as the Public Works Depot on the job at Waiouru. • Mr. Sampson is supervisor for the department. Major Richardson, D. 5.0., M.C., . N.Z.S.C., staff officer ;in charge of works and . fortifications, Army Headquarters, Wellington, is responsible for .ensuring that the work is carried out. according to the layout and plan laid down by the Army authorities. The first troops will move into the new camp in the middle of this month two batteries. There is at present a camp staff of 80. The camp commandant will be Colonel Powles, C.M.G., D. 5.0., N.Z.S.C., Major R . Haddow, D.C.M., is camp quartermaster, Captain Mellows., N.Z.T.S., M.8.E., officer in charge of transport and supplies, ■ Captain Yerex, N.Z.S.C., adjutant, Lieutenant F. W. Booth, N.Z.P.S., assistant-camp quartermaster and at present acting-commandant, and Captain Sinclair, N.Z.M.C. medical officer.