NZHistory, New Zealand history online - disasters

Air New Zealand plane fuselage on Mt Erebus

Only one portion of the fuselage of the Air New Zealand DC-10 remained intact on the icy slopes of Mt Erebus. Red and green flags respectively mark out the search area in a grid pattern and indicate the site of human remains. This method was used to identify and document finds of human remains and property.

Recovery operation begins

A break in the weather allowed the first members of the Erebus Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team to leave McMurdo Station at 8.30 a.m. (NZST)* on 3 December 1979. Deteriorating weather initially hampered efforts to get the remaining team members up to the site, and a blizzard later that evening prevented any work until early the following day. Bob Mitchell, the search and rescue coordinator leading the recovery operation, had flown in with the initial DVI team. But he returned to McMurdo prior to the blizzard and advised the media contingent that they hoped to recover more than the 50 to 70 bodies mentioned previously.

Lone woman

Only one woman worked at the crash site, US Navy Flight-Surgeon Sandra Deegan. She had the task of examining the bodies and formally announcing that they were dead.

There was pressure to complete the recovery operation quickly because the ice runway at McMurdo would begin to thaw in mid-December, making it unusable by wheeled aircraft. This would greatly restrict the movement of aircraft, making it difficult to return bodies to New Zealand.

After the blizzard cleared the mountaineers on site broke the bridges that had formed above the crevasses and marked them with red flags (bodies and human remains were marked by green flags). The surveyors completed their grid pattern and the DVI teams began to search 30 m square grids over the wreckage area of approximately 700 by 120 m. They tagged, photographed and bagged bodies, remains and personal belongings with reference to the grid pattern. There were five DVI teams - each made up of two policemen, one mountaineer, and one photographer. McMurdo provided the men who acted as photographers.

Skua gulls

Skua gulls were an ongoing source of anguish to those involved in the recovery operation. The gulls attacked bodies at the crash site, even after they were placed in body bags. They were hard to scare off and the DVI teams eventually took to covering the bodies in ice and snow while awaiting their removal to McMurdo.

Mitchell had planned for the DVI teams to work in 12-hour shifts, with a break offsite before returning. But their determination saw the men work between 15 and 20 hours a day for four days, with just short breaks onsite in their tents. The first bodies were transported back to a temporary mortuary at McMurdo by US Navy helicopters on 4 December, just hours after the start of the operation; the last followed on 10 December.

Eight of the 12 volunteers assisting US Navy Flight-Surgeon James Goodrum at the temporary mortuary at McMurdo were Americans stationed there. They volunteered in the hope this would limit the number of New Zealanders from Scott Base needed to handle the bodies of their countrymen.

Throughout this period the site investigation continued. It operated alongside, and where appropriate in concert with, the recovery operation. At the crash site itself the two teams shared food and accommodation, and assisted each other, for example when wreckage needed to be moved to uncover bodies. Back at McMurdo a police sergeant, flown in after the main police contingent to sort through belongings recovered from the site, passed on rolls of passengers' films for the US Navy to develop for investigators.

*On the day of the Erebus disaster there was a one-hour time difference between New Zealand and McMurdo Station. New Zealand was observing daylight saving time, which Scott Base and McMurdo Station did not begin observing until 1992/93.

Next page: Site investigation and recovery operation conclude

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Image: New Zealand Police.
Permission of the New Zealand Police required for any reuse of this image.

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St Paul's Church memorials, Auckland

For some years Saint Paul’s Anglican Church in Symonds Street boasted an unusual memorial outside the church: a First World War memorial tram shelter. This was demolished in 1971, but there remain a number of other memorials inside the church: a Field Ambulance memorial plaque, a parish roll of honour, several New Zealand Wars memorial plaques, and a memorial to victims of the wreck of the HMS Wairarapa in 1894.

First World War memorial tram shelter

After the First World War, the St Paul’s congregation decided to build a tram shelter outside the church in memory of the men of the parish who had died on active service. Bishop W.A. Averill laid the foundation stone on 20 July 1919. Acting Minister of Defence Gordon Coates unveiled the completed building on 28 March 1920.

The architect D.B. Patterson had designed the shelter in a compatible style with the church behind it. It was solidly constructed of Rangitoto and Melbourne bluestone, with dressings of Oamaru stone. The words ‘Remembering these dead, let the living be humble’ were carved into the Tudor arch surmounting the entrance. To the left of the entrance was a tablet inscribed with the names of the First World War campaigns; to the right a tablet with a memorial inscription to the fallen. Inside was an Oamaru stone frieze inscribed with the names of 26 battles and a series of polished stone tablets inscribed with the names of 50 fallen (nine more names were added after the unveiling).

Four stained glass windows were later installed in the windows on the back wall.

When trams were replaced by buses in 1956, the building continued for a while in use as a bus shelter. However, after the bus stop was moved, it became a haunt for tramps and target for vandals. The parish demolished the building in December 1971. It is not known what happened to the stained glass windows and the stone tablets. The names of the fallen, at least, were preserved, since there is a roll of honour in the church’s Requiem Chapel. This polished wooden tablet lists in alphabetical order a total of 72 men connected with the church who died in the two world wars.

Field Ambulance memorial plaque

The tram shelter was not St Paul’s only First World War memorial: on 8 May 1921 Lady Jellicoe, wife of the Governor-General, unveiled a brass tablet inside the church in memory of officers and men of No. 3 Rifle Brigade Field Ambulance who fell during the war. This is headed: ‘Erected by No. 3 / (Rifle Brigade) / Field Ambulance / In memory of the / officers & men of the / unit who fell in France / in the Great War’ The names of nine officers are listed in order of rank; the place and date of death are also given. Two NCOs and 24 men are listed by name only. For some years the unit’s flag was displayed above the tablet.

New Zealand Wars memorial plaques

The Requiem Chapel also houses several brass New Zealand Wars memorial plaques. These are relics of the first St Paul’s church, which stood in Emily Place between 1841 and 1885, and which in its early years served as the city’s proto-cathedral and its garrison church. The plaques were transferred to the new St Paul’s when it was opened on the present site in 1895.

One of the tablets was erected in memory of Captain Thomas George Strange, who had been killed at Waitara in 1861. It reads: “To the memory / of / Thomas George Strange / Captain in Her Majesty’s / 65^th Regiment. / Born A.D. 1827. / Killed in action at Waitara, / in the / northern island of New Zealand. / February the 10^th 1861. / ‘The trumpet shall sound and the / dead shall be raised incorruptible / and we shall be changed.’ / This tablet was erected by his / sorrowing widow.”

Another was funded by members of the 1st Waikato Regiment to honour fellow soldiers who had been killed at the Battle of Titi Hill, Mauku, on 23 October 1863: “Sacred / to the / memory / of / Lieutenants Thomas Norman / and William Percival / & of / Corporal Michael Power & / Privates / William Beswick, George Oborne / Farqr. McGilvray and Wm. Williamson / of the 1st Waikato Regt. / who fell in action on the 23^rd October 1863 at Mauku / This tablet is erected by the / Officers Non Commisnd [sic] Officers & Privates / of the / Regiment.”

Yet another was erected in memory of Captain John Shaw Phelps: “To the memory of / John Shaw Phelps / Captain in H.M. 14^th Regiment of Foot, / only son of J.C. Phelps Esqr. / of Gostwyck, Paterson River, N.S.W. / Born in Sydney 21^st May, 1829. / Died, 25^th Nov. 1863. / At the Queen’s Redoubt, New Zealand. / From wounds received while gallantly / leading his company against the hostile / Maoris at Rangariri [sic] on the 20^th Nov. / An affectionate son, a loving brother, / and a true friend.”

Finally, there is a substantial brass tablet that evidently was once accompanied by memorial windows, and honours soldiers and sailors who were buried in the Symonds Street cemetery. It is inscribed as follows: “H.M.D.G. / These windows were re-erected in honoured memory of / [followed by names in five columns] [first column] Commodore Wm. F. Burnett C.B. / H.M.S. Orpheus / Lieutenant Wm. E. Mitchell / H.M.S. Esk / Assistant Surgeon / Geo. R. Pickthorn M.B. / H.M.S. Challenger / Midshipman Thomas A. Watkins / H.M.S. Curacoa / [second column] Colonel Chas. W. Austen / 2^nd Battn. 16^th Reg. / Colonel Marmaduke G. Nixon / Col. [?] Def. Force & Royal Caly. Vols. / Lieut Col John F. Kempt / 1^st Battn. 12^th Reg. / Major Henry Cole / 1^st Battn. 12^th Reg / [third column] Major E. Withers 65^th Reg. / Major James Paul / 65^th Reg. / Major Edward Cantrobus / 2^nd Waikato Militia / Capt. and St Major James T. Ring / 18^th Royal Irish / [fourth column] Capt. John S. Phelps / 14^th Foot / Capt. Henry Mercer / Royal Arty. / Capt. Richard Swift / 65^th Reg. / Lieut. Coll McLeod / 43^rd L.I. / [fifth column] Lieut. Wm. L. Murphy 1^st Battn. 12^th Reg. / Lieut. G.G.S. Menteath 70^th Reg. / Lieut. J.H. Wood Junr. / 2^nd Waikato Militia / Ensign Andrew Ducrow 40^th Reg. / Sergt. J.J. Hanson / Commt Staff Co. / Captain Geo. J. Dormer / 14^th Reg. / And other officers and men who gave their lives in service of the Empire, especially during the Maori Wars. / And whose bodies lie in the Symonds St. Cemetery, Auckland. / R.I.P.”

SS Wairarapa memorial tablet

St Paul’s is also the home of an elaborately carved marble tablet commemorating victims of the wreck of the SS Wairarapa. A total of 121 passengers and crew or more died after the ship struck the cliffs at Miners Head on Great Barrier Island on 29th October 1894. The tablet in St Pauls was erected by the Steward Department of the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand in honour of the ten men, women and boys of the department who lost their lives: William H. Judd, Charlotte McDonald, Annie McQuaid, Lizzie Grindrod, Harry Vear, Alexander McLean, Richard Croucher, Hugh Monaghan, Alfred Holmes and John McDonald.

Sources: ‘St Paul’s Memorial Shelter’, NZ Herald, 19/7/1919, p. 11; ‘St Paul’s Tram Shelter’, NZ Herald, 26/3/1920, p. 4; ‘The Soldiers’ Part: Memorial to Fallen’, NZ Herald, 29/3/1920, p. 6; ‘War Ambulance Work: Memorial at St Paul’s’, NZ Herald, 9/5/1921, p. 6; ‘Modern Chivalry’, Auckland Star, 9/5/1921, p. 8; Jackie Eaglen, A Brief History of St Paul’s Symonds Street, Auckland, 1991, pp. 14, 17; ‘Old Memorial Stone Shelter To Be Demolished’, NZ Herald, 30/12/1971, p. 1.

Credit:

Historical images: ‘Wayside shelter erected’, Auckland Weekly News, 1 April 1920, p. 35 (Auckland Libraries Sir George Grey Special Collections 1-W1825); Henry Winkelmann, Memorial tram shelter outside St Paul’s, 11 April 1922 (Auckland Libraries Sir George Grey Special Collections 1-W1825)
Other images and information: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries, 2014

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Kotere memorial, Mangere

On 10 May 1938, Union Airways Lockheed 10 Electra ZK-AFC Kotare crashed shortly after taking off for Palmerston North from the Mangere Aerodrome. Both members of the crew, the pilot, Commander C.M. Duthie, and the second officer, W.J. Peel, died (there were no passengers on board). This was the first fatal accident to occur on a scheduled air service in New Zealand.

On 10 May 2004, a commemorative service was held unveiling a memorial to the victims on the corner of John Goulter Drive and Ansett Place, Auckland International Airport.

Sources: Electra Flying: The Lockheed 10 Electra in New Zealand and the Pioneering of the Main Trunk Air Service, ed. Richard J. Waugh, Manukau City, 1998, pp. 24-51 [esp. pp. 33-4]; 'Honouring crash pilots', Aucklander East, 28/4/2004, p. 7; 'Pioneering incident remembered', Airport Times, no. 31, June 2004, p. 4.

Credit:

Images and information: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries, 2013

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Murchison earthquake memorial

This relatively recent memorial commemorates those who lost their lives following the 1929 Murchison earthquake. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the area on the morning of 17 June 1929. The violent shaking triggered dozens of landslides in the surrounding hills, which were waterlogged from the winter rain. Of the 17 people who died in the earthquake, 14 were killed by landslides, and 2 in coal mine collapses.

Read more about the 1929 Murchison earthquake on Te Ara.

The text on the memorial's plaque is transcribed below:

Muchison earthquake 17-June-1929
This memorial is a gift to the people of the Murchison district, and marks the transition to the new millenium. Presented by the Murchison District Historical & Museum Society. Nelson and the West Coast are included as they too were affected by this event of nature. Most of the people who lost their lives in Murchison were all engulfed by rock falls and slips, and a rock from the actual slip that took their lives has been used as their memorial. Those who died in the wider area share other plaques mounted here.

Credit:

Francis Vallance, 2014

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Tangiwai mini documentary

This video about the Tangiwai disaster was created by the Auckland War Memorial Museum in 2009 and plays in the museum’s Volcanoes gallery. It features an explanation of the causes of the lahar, a reconstruction of the bridge collapse, historic footage and eyewitness accounts.

Video supplied via YouTube by Auckland Museum

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Volunteers at Tangiwai disaster

At the scene of the railway disaster at Tangiwai, December 1953. A second-class railway carriage lies on its side with men standing alongside and on top of the wreck.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: PAColl-2388-05PAColl-4875-1-01-02
Photographer: Morrie Peacock
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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Tangiwai memorial dedication

The Very Reverend James Baird, vice-president of the National Council of Churches, dedicating the memorial for victims of the Tangiwai disaster, Wellington. The Tangiwai National Memorial, designed by government architect F. Gordon Wilson, was unveiled at Karori Cemetery on 26 March 1957.

The memorial features 16 graves of Tangiwai victims, each with a bronze plaque at the foot. The plaques on the eight graves of those whose bodies were never identified bear the inscription, ‘Known Unto God’.

Read more about the memorial, including the names listed on it (Ministry for Culture and Heritage).

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Main image:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/2-152981-F
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Modern images: Neill Atkinson

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Destroyed railway bridge at Tangiwai

View of Tangiwai in the aftermath of the railway disaster of 24 December 1953, showing destroyed carriages on the banks of the river. A photographer stands on what remains of the bridge.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: PAColl-2388-05
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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Police officer and search volunteers at Tangiwai

A police officer and volunteers at the scene of the railway disaster at Tangiwai, December 1953.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: PAColl-4875-1-01-09
Photographer: Morrie Peacock
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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Great fire in Salonika

On 18 August 1917, a huge fire broke out in Salonika, destroying more than 9000 buildings and leaving an estimated 80,000 people homeless. Here, refugees with the possessions they have managed to salvage observe the blaze from above the city.

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