North Head as seen from the south from Tamaki Drive. To the west, Mount Victoria is visible.

The disappearing gun of the South Battery.

North Head (or Maungauika, the Mountain of Uika in Māori^[1]) is a volcanic headland within North Shore City, New Zealand, in the suburb of Devonport at the east end of the Waitemata Harbour (Auckland's harbour). Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixels Full resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 226 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixels Full resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 226 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Mount Victoria is the highest volcano in Devonport, a seaside suburb of North Shore, New Zealand. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixels Full resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 280 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixels Full resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 280 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The disappearing gun of the South Battery, at North Head in Devonport, New Zealand. ... Māori or Te Reo Māori, commonly shortened to Te Reo (literally the language) is an official language of New Zealand. ... North Shore Categories: New Zealand geography stubs | Auckland | Cities and towns in New Zealand | Territorial Authorities of New Zealand ... Devonport as viewed from Mt Victoria. ... Auckland Harbour Bridge crossing the harbour. ... Schematic map of Auckland. ...

It is a public reserve known for its sweeping views over the harbour and the Hauraki Gulf. During the last century it was mainly used by the military, which left behind a large network of accessible old bunkers and tunnels, forming part of the attraction. Central Park, New York, the most visited city park in the United States A park is a bounded area of land, usually in its natural or semi-natural (landscaped) state and set aside for some purpose, usually to do with recreation. ... A true-colour image showing Auckland city (left), the Hauraki Gulf (centre) and the Coromandel Peninsula (right). ...

History

Māori usage

The original scoria cone has been substantially altered, first by marine erosion and later by the various generations of people who have occupied the headland. It was first used by Māori, one of whose ancestral waka canoes was reputed to have put ashore close by.^{[citation needed]} Some early photographs of the area show that they used to work gardens on the hill's lower slopes, though the Pā fortifications of other cones in the area seem absent. European visitors during the 1850s have also described a settlement at the foot of the hill with gardens and racks for the drying of fish.^[1] Scoria Scoria is the vesicular ejecta of mafic to intermediate magmas such as basalt and andesite. ... Languages Māori, English Religions Māori religion, Christianity Related ethnic groups other Polynesian peoples, Austronesian peoples The word Māori refers to the indigenous people of New Zealand and their language. ... Waka (和歌) or Yamato uta is a genre of Japanese poetry. ... A pā or pa (pronounced pah) was a type of Māori village or community fortified and built for defence. ...

Military usage

One of North Head's tunnels.

The settlement of Auckland saw the area used as the first pilot station for the guiding of ships into the harbour. In 1878, the area was then set aside as a public reserve - under the stipulation that if necessary, it could be re-appropriated and used for defense purposes by the New Zealand Army. In 1885, this then became reality, with the Russian scare reaching its height and forts being built in various places around Auckland, to deter the anticipated invaders from the far north.^[1] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixels Full resolution (1200 × 1600 pixel, file size: 267 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixels Full resolution (1200 × 1600 pixel, file size: 267 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... left|Signal flag H(Hotel) - Pilot on Board Boarding is tricky, as both vessels are moving and cannot afford to slow down. ... Ngāti Tumatauenga or New Zealand Army is the land armed force of the New Zealand military and comprises around 4,500 regular personnel and 2,500 non-regulars and civilians. ...

Three large gun batteries were erected: North battery facing over the Rangitoto Channel, South Battery facing over the inner harbour and Summit / Cautley Battery on the top of the hill. These first fortifications were hastily constructed, but later expanded and strengthened over 25 years by convict labor of up to 40 prisoners living in a barracks on the hilltop. They added extensive tunnel systems, underground store rooms and various obeservation points. The armaments of the fort included 64 pound Armstrong disappearing guns, search lights and a remote-detonated naval minefield across the inner harbour to Bastion Point. None of the armaments were ever used in anger.^[1] A four-gun memorial saluting battery of 18 pounds World War I field guns was used, among other occasions, to salute Elizabeth II on her visit in 1953.^[2] Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland, New Zealand. ... Block quote Sir William George Armstrong William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong (November 26, 1810 – December 27, 1900) was an English industrialist, the effective founder of the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing empire. ... The disappearing gun of the South Battery, at North Head in Devonport, New Zealand. ... A landmine is a type of mine which is placed onto or into the ground and explodes when triggered by a vehicle or person. ... Bastion Point (Tarapakawha in Maori) is a coastal piece of land in Orakei, Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking the Waitemata Harbour. ... This article is becoming very long. ... A field gun is an artillery piece. ... Elizabeth II in an official portrait as Queen of Canada (on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002, wearing the Sovereigns badges of the Order of Canada and the Order of Military Merit) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) (born 21 April 1926), styled HM The...

In the 1930s, part of the fort was modernised, and during World War II, it became the administrative centre of Auckland's coast defenses, with the regimental headquarter buildings still surviving today. The coast defenses were scrapped in 1950, though one of the disappearing guns remained behind - obsolete and too difficult for the scrap merchant who bought it to dissemble and remove.^[3] After the army had left, the area was turned into a reserve again, though the New Zealand Navy kept an area around the summit for a training school.^[1] Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) is the navy of New Zealand. ...

Modern usage

After the Navy school left the summit areas in 1996, the whole area is now administered by the Department of Conservation. as a reserve, and provides for beautiful walks along the waterline or onto the summit with good views of Rangitoto and Auckland due the prominent height of the hill. Also popular are exploratory forays to the gun emplacements and into the tunnel system, which is open to the public to a substantial degree, though torches are needed to explore it. The Department of Conservation (DOC) was established in 1987 following the abolition of the Department of Lands and Survey and the Forest Service. ... Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland, New Zealand. ... Schematic map of Auckland. ... A high power torch Green flashlight Flashlight is also the NATO designation for the Yakovlev Yak-25 Soviet military jet. ...

In the late 1980s and early 1990s there were reports of strange chemical smells and rumors of hidden caverns underneath the hill. Some tales even told of airplanes hidden in secret storerooms. As it was feared that old ammunition was decaying in forgotten parts of the fortifications, a major investigation was started, involving documentary research, geological tests and substantial exploratory digging was done around the hill. The research however, found little of new import.^[1][2] Boxes of ammunition clog a warehouse in Baghdad Ammunition is a generic military term meaning (the assembly of) a projectile and its propellant. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} North Head Historic Reserve: History of the reserve (from the DOC website)
2. ^ ^{a b} Information provided on various plaques around North Head (set up by the DOC)
3. ^ Disappearing Guns - Ruffell, Wally; Royal New Zealand Artillery Old Comrades' Association websie