Part Two

“The Yankee Hospital” – The 39th General US Army Hospital

Part One

“Mere Cold Stone” The Different Meanings of the One Tree Hill Obelisk

Part Three

“Not in my Backyard” – The Construction of the Auckland Observatory

Part Four

Activism at the Summit: a new beginning for Maungakiekie?

by Isabella Wensley*

In October 1942, Cornwall Park was hit by an American invasion. Seventy-five acres of lush greenspace once used by Aucklanders for recreation was commandeered by the Public Works Department and given to American forces.

The One Tree Hill area had already been significantly disrupted by wartime conditions. The unveiling of the obelisk was delayed, statues were taken into storage and Cornwall Park was closed to the public for use by the Home Guard, the Navy and the Defence Force. But October 1942 exponentially increased this disruption with the erection of the 39th General Hospital, a 1000 bed, US hospital that was located in the heart of the park. In just four short months, US ships would deliver all the necessary equipment and personnel to transplant a fully working and entirely American base hospital into the park. The photo below shows the slightly incongruous sight of a foreign military hospital right underneath the familiar Maungakiekie summit.

Pictured here are the 39th Hospital buildings nestled against the backdrop of Maungakiekie. CPTB Collection.

After a contract was accepted by Fletcher Construction on October 23rd 1942, construction began quickly, with some calling it “the fastest built group of buildings ever erected in New Zealand”.^[1] The Hospital was completed in February 1943, with US forces occupying it on the 4th and the first 500 patients arriving four days later.^[2]

Photo showing the swift progress on the construction of the hospital buildings. Fletcher Archives.

Over 700 men were employed at the site from October 1942 to February 1943, working over time on Saturdays to complete this site. Fletcher Archives.

The completed hospital was, in typical American style, very large. It contained 48 wards, with administration offices, surgery, a dental clinic, mess halls, kitchens, canteens and stores.^[3] Nurses and Officers had separate barracks with recreation and mess halls.^[4] The Hospital was so large that staff resorted to riding their bikes through the corridors. Many patients treated at the Hospital were suffering from tropical diseases caught while fighting in the Pacific, such as malaria and hookworm disease. Photos from the site of American style trucks driven by servicemen in American uniforms make it difficult to believe that the location is Cornwall Park and not a US territory.

American equipment being used in the Hospital grounds. CPTB Collection.

American army equipment in Hospital grounds. Many memoirs from residents in the surrounding area recall seeing US trucks such as these driving through the Cornwall Park grounds. CPTB Collection.

Despite the construction of the hospital in the park, the hospital was extremely self-contained, essentially resulting in the creation of a ‘mini-America’ in the middle of Auckland’s most distinctive park. All hospital equipment was directly imported from America, lifted and slotted perfectly into its new Auckland home. Photos from the Hospital show the extent of this self-containment with a barbershop and workshops being set up in the hospital.

Patients in the hospital workshop. CPTB Collection.

American servicemen getting a haircut. CPTB Collection.

Similarly, the US Army bought in 62 doctors, 143 nurses and 500 male staff to care for the first 500 patients.^[5] No New Zealand staff were employed in the day-to-day running of the hospital after construction was completed.

American serviceman toasting a photo of family members. It is not known whether he was a patient or on duty at the hospital. CPTB Collection

American nurse outside hospital buildings. One of the many American women brought over to Auckland to serve as nurses at the hospital. CPTB Collection.

Bringing in American equipment to the Hospital extended to the tiniest details. An inventory of items shows the extent to which the US Army tried to create an American home in Cornwall Park, for example, electric milkshake makers and ice-cream freezers were imported to recreate classic American home-comforts.^[6] Photos of the hospital kitchens, assumedly at either Thanksgiving or Christmas, show American traditions such as the cooking of turkey being carried out in Cornwall Park.

Americans stationed in the Hospital preparing turkey for Christmas or Thanksgiving. CPTB Collection.

As one can imagine, an immense American structure of this size being hastily erected in what was once parkland caused some disruptions. For example, a letter from F. Lipsham to the Auckland Medical Officer of Health details a longstanding gripe with the hospital due to the overflowing sewage from hospital pipes into his property.^[7] He wrote that the sewerage “consists of everything awful including swabs and bandages which must carry all sorts of germs” and that it “all comes from that Yankee Hospital”.^[8] He also wrote of the frustration that the Hospital, “backed up by the Public Works Department”, could get away with the mess when “it would be a different tale if it was I or any other private individual.”^[9]

This frustration evident from the letter cannot be entirely unexpected, especially due to the self-contained nature of the hospital. It had a minimal engagement with the landscape, employed no New Zealanders and, since November 1943, civilians without “special permission” were banned from visiting patients inside.^[10] Apparently, local curiosity led to an initial influx of Auckland visitors gawping at the American base inside their beloved park and this was quickly deemed unsustainable for a working military hospital to accommodate.

This frustration was also mirrored in the wider Auckland area with many Auckland men in particular showing animosity towards the sharply dressed, charming American soldiers. This animosity sometimes boiled over into physical altercations, including a serious fight in Queen Street in 1943 and the dramatically named “Battle of Manners Street” in Wellington.

However, there were also strong bonds formed through the stationing in Cornwall Park and American forces in Auckland. Before visiting was prohibited, large numbers of Aucklanders would visit patients in the hospital, with many inviting troops into their homes for family dinners. Some New Zealand women got engaged to American soldiers stationed in Auckland and became “war brides,” travelling to the US at the end of the war to reunite with fiancés. The Cornwall Park Hospital chapel was a venue for some of these marriages.

39th General Hospital Chapel, where some weddings were held during the war. CPTB Collection.

Wedding invitation for ceremony at the Hospital Chapel. CPTB Collection.

American forces withdrew from Cornwall Park on the 5th January 1945.^[11] Immediately after, the Cornwall Park Trust Board was eager to return the land to its intended use, citing Sir John Logan Campbell’s Deed of Gift that intended the Park to be for public use. They opposed the District Health Board’s use of emergency regulations to commandeer the 75 acres, resulting in a very public disagreement over the use of the land.^[12] However, eventually legislation was passed that gave the land to the District Health Board, turning what was left of the 39th General Hospital into Cornwall Hospital. Cornwall Hospital remained in the park until 1975, functioning as a geriatric and maternity hospital.

It was not until late 1975 that the land first taken in 1942 was returned to public parkland. As quickly as it was commandeered and ‘invaded’, the immense sprawling buildings were pulled down and returned to a space of relaxation and recreation for Aucklanders. Now all that remains of the US occupation is a flagpole in the centre of where the hospital buildings once stood. The flagpole can be seen as a reminder of just how dramatically the use of our public spaces can change. Even the most identifiable spaces so closely linked to Auckland identity are not always ‘ours’, sometimes the use of them is entirely outside of our control.

US flag flying outside hospital buildings. CPTB Collection.

The flagpole in present day. CPTB Collection.

^[1]National Archives, Reference No. BBAD A289 1054 Box 2264 – Item Reference: c – Record Number: 8/130/10 – Part no. 3 – Defence – USA – Cornwall Park – hospital.

^[2]National Archives, Reference No. BBAD A289 1054 Box 2264 – Item Reference: c – Record Number: 8/130/10 – Part no. 3 – Defence – USA – Cornwall Park – hospital.

^[3]Bioletti, The Yanks are Coming: The American Invasion of New Zealand 1942-1944, p.69.

^[4]Bioletti, p.69.

^[5]Bioletti, p.69.

^[6]National Archives, Reference No. BBAD A289 1054 Box 2264 – Item Reference: c – Record Number: 8/130/10 – Part no. 1 – Defence – USA – Cornwall Park – hospital.

^[7]National Archives, Reference No. BBAD A289 1054 Box 2264 – Item Reference: c – Record Number: 8/130/10 – Part no. 3 – Defence – USA – Cornwall Park – hospital.

^[8]National Archives, Reference No. BBAD A289 1054 Box 2264 – Item Reference: c – Record Number: 8/130/10 – Part no. 3 – Defence – USA – Cornwall Park – hospital.

^[9]National Archives, Reference No. BBAD A289 1054 Box 2264 – Item Reference: c – Record Number: 8/130/10 – Part no. 3 – Defence – USA – Cornwall Park – hospital.

^[10]Bioletti, p.185.

^[11]National Archives, Reference No. BBAD A289 1054 Box 2264 – Item Reference: c – Record Number: 8/130/10 – Part no. 3 – Defence – USA – Cornwall Park – hospital.

^[12]“Cornwall Park Trust Recognised,” New Zealand Herald, December 2, 1944.