Bay Harbour: December 19, 2018

PAGE 6 BAY HARBOUR
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Wednesday December 19 2018
News
Stories of the British
•From page 5
The safe was open at the time,
with Mr Archibald asking me if I
noticed anything different about
the safe. To me the safe was like
any other similar safe, common
to pubs.
However, Mr Archibald asked
me to follow the line of the
wallpaper above the safe to the
back of the safe.
Low and behold, the safe had
no back to it and apparently this
had been the case for many years.
I’m sure if the customers of
the British were aware of this, a
quick forward manoeuvre and
its contents could readily be
accessed.
Mr and Mrs Archibald were a
great couple and the British Hotel
continued in safe operational
guidance during their watch.
Jackie Crawford – The
British Hotel was an exciting
place to go and felt slightly risky
when I arrived in Lyttelton 44
years ago.
You never knew who you would
meet or run into. Even a certain
Christchurch lawyer and friends
could be seen there among the
crews from visiting ships from all
around the world, in the bottom
bar of course.
There was a group of working
girls who often travelled with
some crews and the place was
thumping with people. They were
known as ship girls and they used
to travel around New Zealand on
the ships as a lifestyle choice.
Yes, the British was known
globally with the shipping
industry workers. This was precontainer
ships and had a lot
more workers on board.
Visiting seamen were not really
troublesome but Christchurch
locals were and they sometimes
came over and caused fights.
There was never a dull moment
downstairs in the Dive bar and
the girls used to spill up the stairs
alongside local fisherman and a
few hard drinking and singing
locals upstairs.
It was not dull and I used to
make a part time income for a
few years selling instant polaroid
photos to the ship girls and their
chosen partner.
I missed Iggy Pop
unfortunately, but those in
the know used to check out
the shipping arrivals in the
newspaper to see what the action
was like.
All this changed when container
ships became the norm.
However now all that is history.
I still live in Lyttelton. I
t has been gentrified and
cleaned up.
It was nice to see the article.
Cross will find a home
•From page 1
Now more than 100 years
later, a cross honouring his
bravery will be claimed by his
great niece. Annette Sowman
has been the first descendant
to contact the Sumner Redcliffs
RSA to claim one of 21 crosses
remembering the men from
Sumner who died in World War
1. The crosses were on display as
part of the RSA’s Armistice Day
commemorations last month.
Mrs Sowman, 79, said it is
special for her to be able to claim
her great uncle’s cross.
“I am thrilled because it is
the only link I have to him,” she
said.
Mrs Sowman said Pvt Stevens
received several medals after the
war that was passed onto her
grandfather Herbert Webb and
then onto her uncle, but she does
not know what has happened to
them since.
She said she will likely place
the cross in her garden or by
a framed photo she has of her
great uncle. Mrs Sowman said
it would have been a “shock”
for the family to not have Pvt
Stevens return home.
“But don’t forget I wasn’t born
until 1939 . . . I don’t remember
my grandparents saying anything.
They didn’t talk about
those things,” she said.
NEVER FORGOTTEN: World War 2 veteran William Joker and
RSA president Pat Boland stand in front of the 21 crosses on
Wakefield Ave.
The Battle of Chunuk Bair
was a major World War 1 battle
fought between the Ottoman defenders
and troops of the British
Empire over control of the peak
in August 1915.
During the battle New
Zealand suffered nearly 2500
casualties including more than
800 dead.
Pvt Stevens is buried at the
Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial
Cemetery.
He was the seventh child of
Maria Ann (nee Webb) Stevens
and Captain James Finch Stevens.
His father died tragically
on the wreck of sailing ship
Lizzy Guy in 1888.
The RSA is calling for other
descendants to step forward to
take their cross.
President Pat Boland said
anyone else who may have a
family claim, they should get in
touch with them. ​
•To claim a cross, call
Sumner Redcliffs RSA
president Pat Boland on 027
333 2189.
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