RAF Chinook Helps Historic Monument

Boeing Chinook HC6A ZH891 during the ‘kiwi’ airlift operation. Crown Copyright

Service personnel have recently carried out restoration work on the ‘Bulford kiwi’ historic chalk monument above the town of Bulford on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.  The kiwi was carved into Beacon Hill in 1919 by New Zealand soldiers while camped in the area awaiting transport home after the Great War.

Boeing Chinook HC6A ZH891 and its crew made six flights in support of the effort on June 29 airlifting 100 tonnes of chalk up to the carving.  The fresh chalk was then spread by personnel from the 3rd (UK) Division Signal Regiment and civilian volunteers under a project organised by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

The RAF team later met the New Zealand High Commissioner Sir Jerry Mateparae, who had watched the re-chalking exercise.  The ‘Bulford Kiwi’ recently became a scheduled monument, meaning it is recognised as a nationally important archaeological site and is now protected from destruction or change.