Forgotten wartime relic to be marked by a memorial

A World War II airfield in the Far North forgotten for 60 years will be marked by a memorial next year.

The airfield at Waipapakauri, 12km northwest of Kaitaia, was used as a forward RNZAF base by No 7 General Reconnaissance Squadron.

The site, now farmland behind the Waipapakauri Hotel, was once home to roaming wartime RNZAF Vincent and Wildebeest aircraft and Hudson bombers.

It also hosted DC3s and, later, US Liberator bombers and Kittyhawks bound for the war in the Pacific.