Whakamaumaharatanga ki a Will Scotland
I whānau a Will (James William Humphrey) Scotland i Paihia, 1891. Nō 1913 a ia i whakawhiwhi ai ki tana raihana kaiurungi i Britain, nā, ko ia te kaiuru tuarua o Aotearoa kia whiwhi i te British Aviation Certificate. I hoki mai ki Aotearoa me tētahi waka rererangi Caudron, ā, nāna te rerenga whakawhiti tuawhenua tuatahi i Aotearoa, ina rā te rerenga atu i Invercargill ki Gore, mai i Timaru ki Ōtautahi i roto i te 2 hāora, 15 mēneti.
I te 21 o Hānuere 1914, i tae mai te waka Caudron ki Ōtaki mai i Te Whanganui ā Tara. He mea whakahuihui i tētahi tēneti nui i te whenua o Mr Baucke, e 1.5 kiromita mai i tēnei wāhi. He mea whakahuihui te waka e Ray Mann rātou ko Jack Ropata, ko Mr Thorndon.
E toru rā i muri mai i whakamātau a Scotland ki te whakahaere i te waka rererangi, heoi anō i hē nā te mea i mau tētahi skid i roto i tētahi rut, ā, i pakarū hoki tētahi spar. I te 29 o Hānuere i tika te waka rererangi, ā, i angitū a Scotland te rere i te rerenga 20 mēneti e rere āwhiowhio e 500 pūtu i runga ake o tētehi pārae. Ka kitea te hurirere nō tōna waka rererangi Caudron i te Whare Tāonga Waka Rererangi i Paraparaumu.
I whai wāhi matua a Will Scotland ki te āwhina i a Henry Wigram ki te whakatū i tētehi kura whakangungu kaiurungi ki Sockburn (Wigram), ā, i 1918 i huri haere i Amerika, i toro atu ki ngā kura waka rererangi, i ngā karapu waka rererangi me ngā wheketere waka rererangi. I 1919 i motu katoa i a Scotland tōna hononga ki te ao rererangi, ā, i hono atu kē ia ki tētehi kamupene inihua i Palmerston North. I mate ia i Melbourne, Ahitereiria, e 72 tau tōna pakeke.
Will Scotland Memorial on the south bank of the Ōtaki River.
Will Scotland Memorial information sign.
Looking south with the memorial in the foreground.
Looking north through trees towards the memorial, with the rail bridge across the Ōtaki River in the background.
Looking south from the memorial.
