1940s

1940

• A&P Showgrounds, Awapuni racecourse and Awatapu Golf Course all utilised as army training camps during the war

• Milson aerodrome placed under the control of the RNZAF and a radar training school established

• Maori Battalion formed and trained at Showgrounds

• Centennial Drive constructed as part of the New Zealand Centenary celebrations

• Maori Battalion paraded in the City for ANZAC day

• Maori Battalion marched to Railway Station for embarkation overseas

• Celebrations of New Zealand Centenary (100 years)

• Pioneer Memorial on Mount Stewart opened

1941

• Peter Black Conservatory established at the Esplanade

• First Intermediate School opens on Ferguson Street

• Major flood of the Manawatu River, most of Hokowhitu and Awapuni is under water, 62 houses in Hokowhitu are flooded and some residents evacuated (river peaks at 5.8m)

• Intermediate School in Ferguson Street taken over as an army hospital for American casualties from the Pacific theatre

1942

• Linton Army Camp established

• Severe earthquake

• ANA (Army, Navy, and Air Force) Dance Hall opens on George Street, later known as Astoria Ballroom

• Severe earthquake

1943

• Kosy theatre renamed The Vogue (cinema)

1944

• Summer drought causes water shortages in City; the Council digs a soak well on the riverbank to increase the available water supply

• Winter Show Buildings at Showgrounds destroyed by fire

1945

• Population 25277

• New City Council Chambers and administration building opens on Church Street by The Square (now known as Square Edge)

• Transit Camp established at Hokowhitu to provide temporary accommodation during the post-war housing shortage

• During the late 1940s the Council names a number of streets after winners of the Victoria Cross including Upham and Ngarimu

1946

• George Hamish Ormond Wilson elected as MP for Palmerston North

• A house in Queen Street is officially opened as the YWCA clubrooms

1947

• Geoffrey Tremaine elected Mayor

• Clothes rationing finally comes to an end

1949

• William Blair Tennent elected as MP for Palmerston North

• Poll of ratepayers approves loan proposal of £100,000 pounds for a new filtration plant and water mains and £71,000 for a new 23m dam to improve the Palmerston North water supply