The Veronica Bell Parade

The ceremony took place in the area in front of the Sound Shell and the Veronica Sunbay. The Sunbay was built in 1934 and named in 1937 when HMS Veronica was decommissioned and her bell was presented to the City of Napier as a momento of the relationship between the Sloop and the City.

At Noon the original messages in morse code were played.

Then the Band of the Royal New Zealand Navy entertained the assembled crowd.

At 1230 a Naval Guard and Naval Platoon marched in followed by the bell of HMS Veronica brought by the Napier Sea Scouts - which includes David and Jamie Geddes and Martin as a Leader. The bell is hung and then guarded by the Sea Scouts until it goes back to its usual place of safekeeping.

Speeches were made on behalf of the Navy and the City and the bell was ceremoniously rung by the Mayor.

The Royal New Zealand Navy Band

The Sea Scouts bring in the Veronica Bell

The Naval Guard fires a salute and the silence of remembrance

The Mayor rings the bell

Nathaniel and Ben guarding the bell

The Earthquake: the Role of H M S Veronica

The Veronica Bell Ceremony at the Soundshell on the Sunday of Art Deco Weekend is one of the most poignant moments in the weekend and is a time for reflection, a time to remember those who perished in the Earthquake and its aftermath and a time for thanks to those who worked tirelessly to rescue and assist those who survived. The Navy played a a central and important role in that rescue because of its presence in Napier in the form of HMS Veronica and her crew.

This year during the ceremony a most moving experience for me was the playing of the recording made at the time some of the actual morse code transmissions received from and sent to Veronica which were listened to in awed silence.

When the Earthquake struck on 3 February 1931 at 1045 HMS Veronica was tied up at the wharf in Napier having arrived at 0200. Her presence was very fortuitous because all communications on the land were damaged in the quake and the sole means of allerting the outside world to the disaster and maintaining communication were through the Veronica. The following is that part of the story during the day of the quake taken from the Veronica's log and the translated morse code signals which were kindly given to me by the Napier Museum.

The following is a selection of notes to indicate timescale:

1045 First shock - severe
1055 Second shock
1113 Third shock
1130 Stern wires parted
1150 First Aid Party landed
1230 Second First Aid Party landed, also food and water (five parties were landed in all).
1900 Quarter deck and Boat deck rigged for accommodation of refugees
1945 Captain landed to attend meeting of local authorities - returned 2030: result reported by signal to C C N Z
2000 Shocks continually recurring

The quake caused buildings on the jetty to collapse and the ship trembled violently and bumped the jetty. Securing wires snapped. The tide ran out very quickly and the ship was in danger of going aground. Extra wires were secured and the anchors were let go. The valves in the radio receiver were smashed but this did not, fortunately prevent transmission. Roads opened, buildings collapsed and fires started.

1054 Earthquake reported to CCNZ [Commander in Chief New Zealand]. No damage to Veronica.
1114 From CCNZ: Do you require assistance of cruisers
1122 To CCNZ: Yes Veronica hard and fast ashore
1141 To CCNZ: Impossible to estimate damage. Feared extensive. Water rising. Veronica afloat.
1153 To CCNZ: Medical assistance required. Fear considerable loss of life.
1156 To CCNZ: Am landing all assistance possible.
1157 From CCNZ: Am proceeding Napier with Diomede [Cruiser] with assistance.
1212 To CCNZ: Store buildings down, fires raging everywhere, all medical assistance possible required. Shocks still recurring.
1245 Broadcast message for assistance sent to all ships
1309 SS Northumberland offered assistance
1313 To CCNZ: All local communications destroyed [in fact there were some amateum hams up and running by this time] Impossible to state damage. Landed every available man. Assistance urgently required.
1331 To CCNZ: Situation appalling. Whole town appears to be on fire.
1455 Reply to Prime Minister: Require as much assistance as possible. Whole town wrecked. Fires raging.
1456: To CCNZ and Wellington: Impossible to estimate damage at present but it is very severe. Have taken charge as S N O [Senior Naval Officer]. Am endeavouring to organise situation ashore. Have assistance of SSs Taranaki and Northumberland. Every available man landed and refugees coming aboard. Veronica will remain in inner harbour in touch with situation ashore.
1629 To CCNZ and Wellington: Information received that Hastings, Waipawa and Waipukurau have suffered equally with Napier. Medical assistance ungently required there and organisation for food. Am endeavouring to do this in Napier but assistance is urgently required elsewhere.
1730 To CCNZ: Situation ashore is still very obscure but damage and loss of life is worse if anything than thought. Water supply has completely failed. Food shortage probable. Have organised food depots. I understand all surrounding towns are equally or worse affected.
2018 From CCNZ: Important. When situation clearer to you I shall be glad if you will forecast what action you would propose on arrivel of cruisers including working parties etc required ashore. We have on board 15 Doctors, 11 nurses, 54 stretchers, x-Ray portable, 5 marquees, 34 tents, 400 blankets [etc etc.]
2051 To CCNZ: Have just returned from going round. Practically whole of stone and brick buildings of Napier have been destroyed and in many cases are blazing furiously. Hundreds wooden buildings shaken to ground, some partially. Casualties list very heavy but impossible to estimate at moment. Water supplies failed. Fire brigade incapable of dealing with all the fires. Populace quiet and appear stunned by magnitude of the disaster. I have organised a food depot and policing of streets. Several temporary hospitals organised and Veronica forming an X-Ray station. All destitute women and children who care to are aboard Veronica. Shocks still recurring.
2249 From CCNZ [aboard Diomede] It may be a little after 0800 before I reach Veronica as we shall approach with caution. Expect to be 10 miles off Napier at 0700.

2337 To CCNZ: Medical assistance has arrived by aeroplane and car and I think situation is slightly easier but that only refers to people who have been rescued and have been able to get to medical centres. Fires still raging.Acacia Class Sloop

Veronica at Napier after Quake

The Old Custom House, Ahuriri

The Old Custom House in the port of Ahuriri is part of old and pre-earthquake Napier. I photographed it a few weeks ago.

Cyclists From the Past

It was not just the Penny Farthings that appeared at the Picnic. There were some other blasts from the past too.

Penny Farthing

One of the regular events at the Art Deco Weekend's Gatsby Picnic is the Penny Farthing Cyclists. They are so accomplished. I read that getting on and off is very difficult and wI can well believe it. However when you see someone who knows what they are doing and does it well it's hard to believe that it's difficult. I wish that I had nabaged to get a picture of the mount and dismount. Actually I've never seen the mount but the dismount sort of involves , well, just getting off without falling over. Quite amazing.

The Soap Box Derby

The Derby is very enthusiastically supported event each year. The Family Geddes entered a few years ago.

What Can't be Replaced?

I went to the Doctor this morning to get the results of my X-Ray. Apparently my right knee is wearing out on one side. The Doc - a splendidly direct and straightforward chap from Bavaria via the UK - said that I should see a Specialist for confirmation and "just get the knee replaced - a straightforward operation which would disrupt my life for about four weeks and give me 20 trouble free years." Apparently the waiting time is about the same in New Zealand as it is in the UK. I don't know anyone in the UK who has had a knee replacement but I know quite a few here. I'm not convinced that the Doc's optimism is justified. However the idea of having 20 years by having a knee replaced seems like a good deal although I'm not quite sure how a knee replacement cures cancer or prevents one being run over by a bus!

Jandals

A Kiwi told Callum that it was a Kiwi who had invented the Jandal. Yes well. Seems an unlikely scenario given the fact that Jandals by one name or another are, and have been for thousands of years, worn all over the world. Callum's response was quite simple. It may take a Kiwi to invent the Jandal but it took a Scot to invent the sympiesometer (Alexander James Adie - 1775-1858) and build the first practical steamboat (William Symington - 1764-1831) to name but two of very many things. Mind you I seem to recall that Rutherford, the person instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb was a New Zealander. But perhaps we'll not mention that.

So what, you Angles, Saxons and Celts may ask, is a Jandal. Surely everyone knows what a Jandal is. In reality, the slip-on shoe made from an upside down Y-shaped piece of rubber affixed into soft elongated oval pads is only called a Jandal in New Zealand.

While they are one of the world’s most popular forms of footwear, they are called many wondrously different names depending on where in the world you are. The British and the Americans call them Flip Flops and of course they are Thongs in Australia. And that's just the tip of the English-speaking iceberg so to speak.

With so many names (See Wikipedia), you might wonder who created the Jandal. Ask that question in whatever country you happen to be in and they will tell you that it was probably the Australians. After all, the Thong is an Australian icon promoted loudly by Kylie Minogue who rode one into the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic games. But the truth be told, they are not Australian.

Jandals, Flip Flops, thongs or whatever you call them were reputedly first created by a Kiwi in the early 1930s. But that’s not entirely true either, in fact only the rubber versions so common in everyone’s wardrobes today were first created in New Zealand. Interestingly, the Japanese have been using different versions for two thousand years, many of them woven and often including wooden bases – think the clog like shoes of the geisha in early Japanese history. Even before this, the Egyptians wore them as far back as 1200BC. So the 75 years they have been around in their rubber form is nothing compared to almost 3200 years of history in Northern Africa.

My Jandals

Teva Jandals: Anything but the basic jandal (nor the basic cost!)

Beach Jandals

"Dressy" Jandals (an oxymoron)

Not Quite the Day I Expected

If you have come to my Blog this morning in the UK then you may be wondering where today's posting is. Well the answer is that it's uncomposed because this evening, though a lovely evening, has not turned out as expected.

After a day in Napier enjoying the delights of Art Deco Weekend Sunday and meeting people and having lunch with a friend, I arrived back home at about 1730. Wendy popped down a little later to give me some news.

Martin and the children brought dinner down here for us all at about 1900 and then left to put the children to bed. Wendy and I continued to put the world to rights and reminisce until well after 2300 so I've not sorted all the photos for this evening's blog posting but I have had an absolutely splendid evening.

So tonight's posting will be one I've done earlier!

Warbirds

The Warbirds Display Team flew their display today. They centre it over the Soundshell on Marine Parade and last year I got quite a lot of video footage. Today we were just finishing our golf croquet and so I had to rely on the camera's 18x optical lens so capture them.