THE WAR BUNKER AT SANDY BAY

By Nicole

The bunker.

During World War 2, the home guards patrolled the beach day and night. They worked long hours sitting in the bunkers with their guns ready. There was also a gun on Cape Wanbrow with a range up to the freezing works! The home guard were soldiers who didn't go to war overseas.

The bunker was called a pillbox, because of the round shape. Inside the pillbox, there was a Lewis or Vickers machine gun. But, they took it away after the war. This bunker was the southern most part of the defence area and was connected to the main gun emplacements by a series of trench networks along the top of the cliffs around past the Yellow-eyed penguin colony.

The war bunker at Sandy Bay, has been around for 66-67yrs. It's probably going to last another 40yrs. It was built out of concrete and wood.

During the Second World War, the Japanese attempted to blow up ships in Sydney Harbour. This made the NZ Government worried. Especially when the Japanese circled NZ in their submarine!

These bunkers took about a week to build, very quick. That was for the smaller version, like a pillbox, for a larger version, that took about a fortnight.

When the soldiers were on duty they took their lunches into the bunker or pillbox with them.