Seagrove was an airport located by

Clarks Beach Clarks Beach is a small town of Auckland, New Zealand. It is in the former Franklin District local government area. Primarily a beachside rural town, situated within the Manukau Harbour, at the mouth of the Waiuku River, it fronts the harbour a ...

on the south shoreline of

Manukau Harbour The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea. Geography The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burne ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, near the small town of

Waiuku Waiuku is a rural town in the Auckland Region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River, which is an estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour, and lies on the isthmus of the Āwhitu Peninsula, which ...

World War Two

Seagrove aerodrome was built, after Japan's entry into World War II (with the sudden threat of invasion), in secret on commandeered private dairy farming land during World War II (1942) for the use of

RNZAF The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

aircraft. It was used initially for the air defence of Auckland. Originally it was to be named RNZAF Base Karaka, but as a good will gesture to the Clark family that gave up their farmland, retained the Homestead's name "Seagrove". Very few people knew of the base or its existence during the war, so well-guarded that airmen based at the nearby RNZAF Ardmore aerodrome would wonder why fighter aircraft would suddenly appear out of nowhere and disappear from view. By 1943, the air force base was used as an auxiliary to the much larger bases at Mangere aerodrome (now

Auckland International Airport Auckland Airport is the largest and List of the busiest airports in New Zealand, busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airp ...

) and Ardmore aerodrome.

Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...

point defence fighters and Douglas SBD-3 (and SBD-4) dive bombers were both assembled and based there. Two paved cinder top runways, each approximately 5000 ft long and 150 ft wide, were built in a 'Boomerang' layout, one running west to east the other running nor'northeast to sou'southwest, central thresholds meeting at the apex of the Seagrove promontory at the mouth of the

Waiau Pa Waiau Pa is a small town of Auckland, New Zealand. It is in the Franklin Ward of Auckland Council. The name means "River of swirling currents" in the Māori language. The Waiau Pa Presbyterian Church on the corner of McKenzie Road and Seagrove ...

inlet. Temporary barracks, dug in revetments and maintenance facilities were built. At the end of the conflict in 1945 the base was 'revealed' and closed but used for a short time as a surplus aircraft dump.

Post-war

The base was returned to local (Clark family) land owners in the 1950s after being ruled out as a future site of a new Auckland international airport. Speedway enthusiasts used the runways for drag racing and speed time checks until the runway surfaces begin to deteriorate over time. There were plans to make the east–west runway into a certified drag racing strip but costs and the (then) isolated area saw enthusiasts move elsewhere. Today the site is marked by a small plaque dedicated to those who served there and the runway layout is still discernible to aircraft approaching Auckland International Airport as well as on Google Earth. Access is limited as the site is now productive farmland and private property. Such was the secrecy of this base, to this day most people in the area know very little of its existence.Glenbrook Vintage Railway, History of the Waiuku Branch Line – WWII Troop Movements

References

External links

RNZAF Wartime Stations – Auckland RegionHistory of Seagrove
{{authority control Airports in New Zealand Airports established in 1942 Defunct airports in New Zealand Royal New Zealand Air Force bases 1942 establishments in New Zealand Transport buildings and structures in the Auckland Region