Aircraft based in Fiji at time of photo. NZ4037 was withdrawn from use and stored at Hobsonville, NZ, in October 1953. Sold for scrap in 1956. Photo from: Air Force Museum of New Zealand

Not a film set! The Mariner is from an early batch of unarmed transport aircraft. It has Second Series BuNo 6464 and wears the emblem of NATS on the nose. Photo apparently taken at Tarawa which was taken by US Marines in a bloody battle in November 1943. A seaplane base was established in the atoll's lagoon, supported by a seaplane tender. Photo from: Peter Stackpole / Life

Photo taken during the Operation Dominic nuclear tests conducted by the United States. The island, then called Christmas Island, was a British possession at the time. TG526 struck off charge in 1967. Photo from: National Archives at College Park, Maryland

Kanton (or Canton) Island was a refuelling stop on the long leg between Hawaii and ports such Fiji and American Samoa. That ceased in November 1965 when Pan Am withdrew DC-7Cs from the New Zealand route. The airport continued to be used by the US military and space agency as a space program tracking base until 1976. The airport remains as an emergency landing ground only. Kanton Island has a population of about 20 people. Photo from: Whites Aviation Collection/Alexander Turnbull Library

Malden Island airstrip was built in 1956-57 to support British nuclear weapons tests at Christmas Island (now Kiritmati). The uninhabited island was a site for test instrumentation and three bombs were detonated a short distance off the island in 1957. Photo from: RNZAF/Air Force Museum of New Zealand