New Zealand Memories Issue 155

APPETISER
Aircraft Fumigation
Who recalls the routine insecticide spraying of aeroplane cabins at New Zealand airports before alighting from
international flights? This was administered by either cabin crew or by quarantine officers. Pat Dale’s humorous
article Flying Skies and Killing Flies on page 38 reveals all.
Ministry for Primary Industries ‘Aircraft disinsection’, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/aircraft-disinsection, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 11-Jul-2019
1

EDITORIAL
Dear Readers,
World War II wartime secrets, kept under wraps for decades, have filtered out to
the general public over latter years. In 1992, journalists printed the shocking secret
of the presence of a U-boat in New Zealand waters in January 1945. Gerald Shone
diligently traced the route and exploits of U-boat 862 to the point of meeting
several of its German crew some 50 years after the war in order to further his
research and book. Gerald’s siblings have contributed this intriguing account on
Gerald’s behalf.
Remember the instruction “Remain seated” when returning from international
destinations while the airline cabin underwent spraying? DSIR officer Pat Dale
was part of the mechanism engaged to eliminate foreign insects from entering New Zealand soil. Was the
initiative effective? Pat Dale relates the amusing story.
Knucklebones is the topic of Christopher Moor’s nostalgic contribution. The story is certainly a reminder of
my schooldays when I spent hours throwing the five silver knucklebones into the air to play out ‘overhands’,
‘scatters’, ‘dumps’ and the more difficult ‘catching flies’ while competing with friends. I’m inspired to try my
hand at the game again and test my dexterity.
David Relph, who provided an excellent historic account of the first road across the Southern Alps in Issue
146, returns with the building of the railway across the same divide. First proposed in 1870, the railway had to
surmount obstacles such as the Waimakariri Gorge with little machinery and in grueling conditions. Fortitude
and determination are words that spring to mind.
The inclusion of a selection of shorter pieces brings diversity. Farm machinery in Southland, quinces delivered
to Queen Victoria from Auckland, the astonishing discovery of a much-loved ancestral Oldsmobile and, in the
Waikato section, digging for moa bones at Upokongaro. Always something unique to add to the mix.
Reports of family reunions taking place, with loved ones reunited, have been a joy to hear. Let us hope for more
normality as the year progresses.
Warm regards,
Wendy Rhodes,
Editor
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2

Editor
Wendy Rhodes
Graphic Design
Icon Design
Administration
David Rhodes
Distributed by
Are Direct
Subscriptions & Enquiries
Phone tollfree: 0800 696 366
Mail: Freepost 91641,
PO Box 17288, Greenlane, Auckland 1546
email: admin@memories.co.nz
www.memories.co.nz
Annual Subscription $68 for five issues
(Price includes postage within NZ)
Contributors
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, NZ
Auckland City Libraries Heritage Collections
Beagle, Irene
Canterbury Museum
Cummings Family
Davis, Keith
de Rouffignac, Ross
Finlay Family
Fitness, Alan
Grafton, Margaret
Hawke’s Bay Museum Trust,
Ruawharo Ta-u-rangi
Herdman, Vern
History House, Greymouth
Isted, Bruce
Mathers Family
McKinnon, John
Meechang, Mags
Meechang, Maurie
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Ministry for Primary Industries
Moor, Christopher
Moore, Anne
Norsewood Pioneer Museum
Pickmere, Alan
Presbyterian Research Centre
Radcliffe, Graham
Relph, David
Reynolds, Robert
Shone, Gerald
Shone, Mike
Shone, Sue
Sinclair, George
Sinclair, Roy
Stewart, Graham
Tarawhiti Museum
Taupo Museum and Art Gallery
Walsh, Michael
West, Valerie
Opinions: Expressed by contributors are not
necessarily those of New Zealand Memories.
Accuracy: While every effort has been made to
present accurate information, the publishers take no
responsibility for errors or omissions.
Copyright: All material as presented in
New Zealand Memories is copyright to the publishers
or the individual contributors as credited.
ISSN 1173-4159
June/July 2022
Contents
Kriegsmarine U-boat 862 4
Secret incursion into Gisborne Harbour: Gerald Shone’s research.
Nature Knows Best 11
A horticultural tale from Keith Davis.
Building the Midland Line Across the Southern Alps 12
David Relph tracks progress of the 1870 rail proposal.
The Magic Robot 17
A childhood toy never forgotten by Irene Beagle.
From the Regions: Waikato 18
Man of Mysteries 28
Fergus Hume is profiled by David Hill.
Knucklebones in ’53 30
Christopher Moor reminds readers of the popular game.
Quinces to Queen Victoria 34
An unlikely story … or is it? A contribution from Kelvin Smith.
Centrefold: Suitably Hatted 36
Richard John Seddon on tour in the South Island, 1906.
Flying Skies and Killing Flies 38
Insecticide spraying on aircraft: an article by Pat Dale.
Farm Machinery Back in the Thirties 44
On the farm with Mags Meechang.
Cinemas of Old: Tuatapere and Geraldine 47
Picture theatre nostalgia with John McKinnon.
First Impressions of New Zealand 48
Bert Toomey arrived aboard the M.V. Cumberland in 1953.
From the Regions: Whanganui / Manawatu 50
The Queen Street Greyhound 61
Mike Subritzky in his ancestor’s motorcar.
The F.G.R. Trademark 62
Profile: scenic photographer Frederick George Radcliffe.
Reader’s Response: Government Recruited Teaching Staff 67
Mailbox 68
Index and Genealogy List 70
Editor’s Choice: Tasman Glacier 72
Photographed on 9 March 1957 by Robert Reynolds.
Cover image:
Whanganui River settlement,
24 March 1906. (Article page 62)
Courtesy: A. Pickmere
3

Editor
Wendy Rhodes
Graphic Design
Icon Design
Administration
David Rhodes
Distributed by
Are Direct
Subscriptions & Enquiries
Phone tollfree: 0800 696 366
Mail: Freepost 91641,
PO Box 17288, Greenlane, Auckland 1546
email: admin@memories.co.nz
www.memories.co.nz
Annual Subscription $68 for five issues
(Price includes postage within NZ)
Contributors
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, NZ
Auckland City Libraries Heritage Collections
Beagle, Irene
Canterbury Museum
Cummings Family
Davis, Keith
de Rouffignac, Ross
Finlay Family
Fitness, Alan
Grafton, Margaret
Hawke’s Bay Museum Trust,
Ruawharo Ta-u-rangi
Herdman, Vern
History House, Greymouth
Isted, Bruce
Mathers Family
McKinnon, John
Meechang, Mags
Meechang, Maurie
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Ministry for Primary Industries
Moor, Christopher
Moore, Anne
Norsewood Pioneer Museum
Pickmere, Alan
Presbyterian Research Centre
Radcliffe, Graham
Relph, David
Reynolds, Robert
Shone, Gerald
Shone, Mike
Shone, Sue
Sinclair, George
Sinclair, Roy
Stewart, Graham
Tarawhiti Museum
Taupo Museum and Art Gallery
Walsh, Michael
West, Valerie
Opinions: Expressed by contributors are not
necessarily those of New Zealand Memories.
Accuracy: While every effort has been made to
present accurate information, the publishers take no
responsibility for errors or omissions.
Copyright: All material as presented in
New Zealand Memories is copyright to the publishers
or the individual contributors as credited.
ISSN 1173-4159
June/July 2022
Contents
Kriegsmarine U-boat 862 4
Secret incursion into Gisborne Harbour: Gerald Shone’s research.
Nature Knows Best 11
A horticultural tale from Keith Davis.
Building the Midland Line Across the Southern Alps 12
David Relph tracks progress of the 1870 rail proposal.
The Magic Robot 17
A childhood toy never forgotten by Irene Beagle.
From the Regions: Waikato 18
Man of Mysteries 28
Fergus Hume is profiled by David Hill.
Knucklebones in ’53 30
Christopher Moor reminds readers of the popular game.
Quinces to Queen Victoria 34
An unlikely story … or is it? A contribution from Kelvin Smith.
Centrefold: Suitably Hatted 36
Richard John Seddon on tour in the South Island, 1906.
Flying Skies and Killing Flies 38
Insecticide spraying on aircraft: an article by Pat Dale.
Farm Machinery Back in the Thirties 44
On the farm with Mags Meechang.
Cinemas of Old: Tuatapere and Geraldine 47
Picture theatre nostalgia with John McKinnon.
First Impressions of New Zealand 48
Bert Toomey arrived aboard the M.V. Cumberland in 1953.
From the Regions: Whanganui / Manawatu 50
The Queen Street Greyhound 61
Mike Subritzky in his ancestor’s motorcar.
The F.G.R. Trademark 62
Profile: scenic photographer Frederick George Radcliffe.
Reader’s Response: Government Recruited Teaching Staff 67
Mailbox 68
Index and Genealogy List 70
Editor’s Choice: Tasman Glacier 72
Photographed on 9 March 1957 by Robert Reynolds.
Cover image:
Whanganui River settlement,
24 March 1906. (Article page 62)
Courtesy: A. Pickmere
3

WORLD WAR II
Kriegsmarine U-boat 862
Secret incursion into Gisborne and Napier Harbours during World War II.
Gerald Shone
Prepared by Mike and Sue Shone; siblings of the late Gerald Shone.
Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa – the “Great standing place of Kiwa” – was asleep when a U-boat made a secret
nocturnal visit in January 1945. Gisborne harbour has been host to many ocean-going wakas, sailing
ships, naval vessels, home and fishing boats over several centuries – a river port and a safe harbour
from the southerly swells of Poverty Bay.
Gisborne boasts a large stretch of coastline with popular beaches and it is also sometimes referred to as the
‘City of Rivers’ because it sits at the convergence of three rivers. At only 1200 metres long, Turanganui is the
shortest river in New Zealand.
During World War II Gisborne was a strategically important airbase and port, visited by numerous friendly
naval and armed-merchantmen. Gisborne citizens played a significant role in the defence of New Zealand and
in protecting the food supplies being exported to Britain from Poverty Bay.
Active in all branches of the armed forces both at home and abroad were people from Gisborne and the
Tairãwhiti region. Included was the famous Battle of the River Plate. 1 It was the heroism and courage of Ngati
Porou in Company C of the 28th Mãori Battalion which marked the fierce and costly battle of Monte Cassino
in Italy.
1 Bert Millier, Doug Gregory, Duncan McColl and Joe Quinn - The lads in blue
- by Wynsley Wrigley, Gisborne Herald - Published December 14, 2019 Gisborne Harbour 1943.
Courtesy: Tairawhiti Museum
4

WORLD WAR II
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington NZ Ref PAColl-4161-01-040 Wilkinson collection.
The five-inch gun at the Kaiti Hill battery, Gisborne c1943. The gun had
been decommissioned a few weeks before U-862 arrived in Poverty Bay.
But by the end of 1944, the war was as good as over in the minds of most Gisbornites and, following D-day
in Europe, they felt that victory was close at hand, as was peace in the Pacific.
For the nearest the war had approached Gisborne was the passage of the Japanese submarines I-21 and I-25 –
and all some considerable distance out from Poverty Bay.
Gisborne had even started to de-militarise; rolls of barbed wire had been removed from the beaches and the
large 5-inch gun emplacement on Kaiti Hill had been dismounted. And the RNZAF squadrons of Vildebeestes,
Harvards, Grumman Avengers and Lockheed Ventura bombers based at Darton Field Gisborne had all been
demobilised.
Thus, the Gisborne of January 1945 was practically defenceless. Yet on 15th January 1945, as the end of the
war approached, Gisborne faced its first real threat. For a German “super-sub” lay carefully submerged offshore
observing, planning and preparing to attack unknown shipping in its inner harbour.
At 7-30pm on the evening of 15th January 1945, Gisborne was tranquil and oblivious to the presence of a
menacing German submarine. The harbour’s signal station was unmanned as there were no planned shipping
movements. Movies were starting at all of Gisborne’s three theatres, the Regent, the Majestic and the Kings.
At the Regent, This is the Army starring George Murphy and Joan Leslie was showing with Ronald Reagan in a
minor role, and probably with little interest in politics. The local radio station 2ZJ was playing the radio serial
Dad and Dave, before closing at 10pm, and it was very likely that the German crew of U-862 were listening in
and perhaps amused by the strong Australian accents.
By 9-00pm U-862’s Commander Heinrich Timm surfaced from his hiding place, keeping his decks awash
with just the conning tower showing as he moved towards the entrance of Gisborne harbour.
By midnight with just 5 of 64 crew members in the conning tower U-862 entered the harbour ever so quietly
on its electric motors, travelling at about 2 to 3 knots but now with the decks fully raised above the water yet
dangerously little more than one metre clearance under her keel. With Gisborne harbour’s shallow draught of
just 6.39 metres this event could well have ended up as one of the Second World War’s infamous naval disasters
as fully surfaced U-862 had a draught of 5.35 metres. Undoubtedly this was a “great escape” for U-862.
5

WORLD WAR II
U-862 photographed at Penang, Malaya on 9 September 1944.
That evening, less than a mile away from the Gisborne harbour, Gerald was not quite six months old and
tucked up asleep in the rented Ormond Road house with his parents John and Kathleen Shone. Meanwhile this
87.6 metre long, 1804 tonne displacement, Type IXD2 super-sub was slipping stealthily into Gisborne harbour
searching for targets. At the same time some 50 Gisborne freezing works’ employees were gradually heading
home after their shift on their bicycles and, in darkness of a new moon, on the road immediately alongside the
harbour.
Fortunately for Timm, no one who was heading home that evening was interested in what was happening in
the harbour, so the submarine’s presence was neither spotted nor reported. More fortunately for Gisborne was
the fact that there was no shipping of note in the inner-harbour so Timm had no choice but to exit immediately,
or, to consider shelling some of the city infrastructure. Timm wisely elected not to shell the city, as had the
Japanese subs inside Sydney harbour in 1942, but if he had elected otherwise the consequences would most
certainly have been a tragedy of major proportions.
6

WORLD WAR II
Having chosen caution, Timm was unable to turn his U-boat safely
in the inner-harbour so had to reverse the 87.6 metre U-boat the full
length of the harbour, retracing his entry. Thus this dramatic military
event in the heart of Gisborne harbour (as was the Napier harbour
visit) remained secret for nearly 50 years.
Even the 1956 RNZ Navy official war history does not specifically
record the event. Only a selected few at the Top-Secret FRUMEL
United States–Australian–British signals intelligence unit in Melbourne
had any idea of the location of U-862. Having broken the German
codes, they had been tracking the movements of the U-boat flotilla
based in Batavia (modern day Jakarta) from where U-862 had begun
its epic voyage from Batavia to New Zealand, and back without
refuelling. Timm did however take the precaution of long periods of
radio silence as part of his strategy to reduce the chances of detection.
In August 1992, U-862’s First Watch Officer Günter Reiffenstuhl
released his war diaries of the most distant war patrol ever taken by
a U-boat. At about the same time, extracts from the private diaries
of Maschinenobergefreiter Albert Schirrmann, Bootsmaat Fritz Peitl
and the maps of Maschinenobermaat Rudolf Herrmann were also
made available.
This breaking-news was then reported in the New Zealand Sunday
Star by Geoff Chapple and sparked a life-long interest in U-862 by
the late historian Gerald Shone, who was born in Gisborne in 1947.
His research was meticulous as he examined all documents that
he could locate on the U-boat, its crew and Gisborne and Napier
harbours as they were in 1945.
In 1997 Gerald, a medical laboratory scientist, even travelled to
Germany and Austria to meet the surviving crew members and to
interview the U-boat First Watch Officer Günther Reiffenstuhl,
Radio Operator Günter Nethge, Medical Officer Dr Jobst Schaefer
and Matrosenobergefreiter Anton Kretschmann, at one of the ageing
crew’s last reunions. He also visited the German U-boat Archives
centres and undertook research in Australia and Indonesia.
Kaptlt Heinrich Timm
2WO Oblt Kurt Steinhauser
L1 Oblt Hugo Seggermann
Senior Officers of U-862 with a total complement of 64.
Obstabsarzt Dr Jobst Schaefer
3WO Lt W Spieth Gefallen
Lt.ing Walter Spindler
Left: The crew of U-862 at her commissioning at the Deschimag
construction yards in Bremen, 7 October 1943.
All photgraphs on this page courtesy of Gunter Nethge via author.
I WO Oblt G. Reiffenstuhl
7

RAILWAY
Building the Midland Line
Across the Southern Alps
David Relph
The discovery of gold on the West Coast led to the building of a coach road across the Southern
Alps, over Arthur’s Pass, in just one year (1865). This was an astonishing feat involving up to a
thousand men all working on it. By contrast, the building of a railway line across the Southern Alps
to Greymouth took no fewer than 36 years.
A railway line was first proposed in 1870 when the then Colonial Treasurer announced ambitious plans to
build a network of railways to link up the scattered settlements of New Zealand. By 1878 a main trunk line
between Christchurch and Dunedin across the plains had been completed with little difficulty, and several
branch lines had spread west. The success of the coach road was the catalyst that led to a railway line being built
west to the edge of the hills at Springfield, thus making the coach trip shorter and easier. So in 1884 a Royal
12

RAILWAY
A railway enthusiasts’ steam train emerging from one of 16 tunnels along the edge of the Waimakariri Gorge and
about to cross the Broken River Viaduct. Graham Radcliffe
Commission decided that the railway line should be continued to the west coast, and to follow the Waimakariri
valley and over Arthur’s Pass like the road, instead of by a longer, but easier route further north, up the Hurunui
valley and over Harpers Pass.
Slow progress up the Waimakariri Valley
In 1887 the New Zealand Midland Railway Company was contracted by the government to build this railway
over Arthur’s Pass to Greymouth and up the west coast to Nelson, all to be completed in 10 years. This was quite
unrealistic in view of the lack of funding and ignorance of the conditions by the company’s London directors.
Not surprisingly the company failed within 10 years, with about 120 kilometres of track having been laid on the
West Coast side and in Canterbury only a bridge over the Kowai River and a short stretch of line to the entrance
of the Waimakariri Gorge completed. After a great deal of legal argument, the Crown took over and the Public
Works Department resumed work in 1898.
The next section of the line along the edge of the formidable Waimakariri Gorge was most spectacular, and
extremely difficult. It was described by the district engineer as “very rough, the mountain slope rises from the
riverbed while the river runs in a fearful gorge all the way”. With little in the way of machinery, construction of
this section was very slow and difficult. Most of the workers, often including wives and families, lived in tents on
the nearby hillsides. When this section of 13 kilometres of the line was completed it passed through 16 tunnels
and crossed four major viaducts. The highest is the Staircase Viaduct, the highest in the South Island, and the
Broken River viaduct is almost as high. By 1906 trains were able to reach a temporary terminus at Broken River,
where it connected with a coach road. That made the coach journey much shorter and avoided Porters Pass.
The next section of the line, extending to Arthur’s Pass village, was comparatively easy. Nevertheless it took
eight years to complete. It extended in a series of gentle grades up a shallow valley past several lakes, including
Lake Sarah, reaching the railway settlement of Cass in 1910. It then went through a cutting to enter the massive
Waimakariri valley. At Bealey it crossed the river and went up the Bealey Valley to Arthur’s Pass. At this point
the coaches only had to take passengers over the pass to Otira.
The 73-metre high Staircase Viaduct under construction in 1905
Inset: the Staircase Viaduct 100 years later.
Canterbury Museum 19XX.2.856
13

36

Suitably Hatted
In January 1906, prominent Greymouth photographer James Ring took this posed shot of Richard John
Seddon with his distinguished entourage at Kumara. Little did anyone suspect that in only four months time,
the country would be marking the statesman’s funeral. Louisa, his devoted wife, stands on Seddon’s right. A
horse tram and driver waits behind the distinguished group who all sport an Edwardian hat, even the young
boy. Seddon’s elegant silk top hat complements his morning suit; perhaps the varying type of head covering and
matching ensemble denotes position in society or rank in the Party?
Seddon was Premier of the Liberal Party from 1 May 1893 until his death on 10 June 1906 while aboard
the vessel Oswestry Grange bound for New Zealand. Before his departure from Australia, he telegraphed the
Victorian Premier with the message, ‘Just leaving for God’s own country’. Courtesy: History House
37

STORY
Flying Skies and Killing Flies
Pat Dale
Though life has brought me close to several of the world’s great catastrophes, it has so far spared me
involvement in any of them. We had left Czechoslovakia in 1967, a good month before the Soviet
tanks rolled in and displaced Mr Dubchek, and I got out of Bangladesh in 1975 nearly a week before
the military coup that overthrew the elected government and murdered the president. Likewise,
although I have been accused of precipitating the first Gulf war during a visit to Syria in 1989, I was actually well
out of Syria before it erupted. And while it is true that I had some technical involvement with Air New Zealand
both before and after the Erebus disaster, no evidence has ever been presented that would implicate me in the
navigational failure which resulted in that fearful event in 1979. I only sprayed some of their aircraft to kill flies.
38

STORY
It had been known since the War in the Pacific and the work of Marshall Laird that aircraft were potent carriers
of live insects from place to place, and that they included the mosquitoes that are the carriers of malaria, dengue
fever and various forms of encephalitis. More or less perfunctory attempts had been made at spraying passenger
aircraft when they arrived in New Zealand from places where they might have picked up such mosquito vectors.
In about 1970 a dengue epidemic in the South Pacific rekindled interest in the subject, and spraying was
resumed a bit more methodically than heretofore, using a World Health Organisation recommended spray
based on pyrethrum. Officers of the Health Department carried out the spraying while the arriving aircraft
stood at the terminal. The procedure raised in turn, the usual whining from airlines and travel agents about
the discomfort and inconvenience to passengers
occasioned by the spray itself, and also the five minutes’
delay they had to endure while the spray circulated
and the insects came in contact with it. Folk from the
industrialised Northern Hemisphere can never believe
that we callow antipodeans could comprehend what
we are doing to them. If we do anything they are not
used to it must be because we are ignorant or stupid.
“We never gotten sprayed when we went to Canada”
implying, I suppose, that our behaviour could not be
a result of some peculiarly British idiosyncrasy. The
fact that any insect could, if it cared to, walk across
the border between the US and Canada hadn’t crossed
their minds.
The airlines doubted whether the treatment was
effective anyhow, and I was given the task of checking
the validity of the spray regime.
At that time there was in DSIR a young fellow
named Smith who had developed great skill at
breeding houseflies for use as victims during the
breeding of certain parasitic insects, which could
then be distributed at large in order to reduce the
local housefly population. (The technique was very
successful, so that nowadays you can lunch outdoors
in summer almost without taking flies into account.
whereas in 1970 it would hardly have been worth
trying). When the project was finished, Smith kept
on breeding flies, more or less out of habit, I think.
So when it came to testing aircraft sprays, flies seemed
a good test insect to use. They are marginally harder
Aeroplane cabins were sprayed with insecticide to kill
live insects from the 1950s, sometimes by cabin crews
and sometimes by quarantine officers. From the 1980s
the spraying was done using a residual insecticide
during aircraft maintenance.
Ministry for Primary Industries ‘Aircraft disinsection’, URL: https://nzhistory.
govt.nz/media/photo/aircraft-disinsection, (Ministry for Culture and
Heritage), updated 11-Jul-2019
39

FARMING
Farm Machinery Back
in the Thirties
Mags Meechang
Bob Mac stood tall after tying his last bootlace and strode out into the early morning cold. A wry smile
came to his weathered face; he wasn’t the first out that morning. He could hear the rhythmical beat
of the neighbours John Deere a few paddocks away. Sounds carried some distance in the still of the
morning and the tractor sounds were slowly becoming part of everyday life.
It had all been horses until the first Ellis Chalmers arrived in the Southland district of Waikaka in 1939 and
it wasn’t until after the war that the tractor numbers increased. All sorts of makes came from all corners of the
world, each with their own special characteristics, although the Farmal M’s and McCormick-Deering’s seemed
pretty popular. Of course, they were usually proven engines that reached New Zealand. Understandably the
failures weren’t often sent! Mind you, those old Hart Parr Specials were notable. They were very like the old
traction engines and built in the same trend, with wide big wheels. You could hold a dance on those things!
Goodness knows why, but Bob knew blokes who loved those ugly looking Hart Parrs with their cross-engines.
The clutch hung way out and he personally thought they were unappealing looking things, even worse than the
old English Fordsons with their great big brass worm drives, which made a hell of a racket.
There she was, Bob’s Cletrac Crawler nestled comfortably in the next paddock, not far from the sledge
carrying the 44 gallon drum of power kerosene, the grease bucket and old cream can full of water. She looked
quite cosy really, the old pre second world war model, manufactured in America, her orangey yellow body
securely tucked in under the greenish cover. Bob had his evening routine down to a fine art, before heading
home. First he’d refuel, grease the track gear and check the water and oil. Then he’d clean the dust from the air
44

FARMING
Above: Maurie Meechang seated on the McCormick-
Deering tractor working trees in 1985. Maurie
bought the old tractor from Central Otago c1982.
Ian Meechang on the tractor with Maurie watching.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1370-116-19
cleaners and remove the exhaust pipe, storing it under
the tractor, before tying on the canvas cover and giving
it a friendly pat before he walked off.
Bob’s walk up to the paddock hadn’t taken long,
but he was warmed and felt good. He uncovered the
Cletrac, replaced the exhaust pipe and starting her
on petrol, cranked her into life. It took five minutes
before he could switch it over to run on kerosene, so
he set himself up for the day’s work. The old school
bag, holding his lunch, was hung over the air cleaner
pre-cleaner. With any luck his tea should still be pretty
warm at morning tea break. He’d put his old beer
bottle filled with tea and stopped with a cork, inside a
pair of thick woollen socks. It worked quite well really,
but he’s yet to find it still warm by lunchtime, let alone
later in the afternoon. Still it was wet and always a
welcome break during the ten hours of work.
Bob switched the tractor over to kerosene, and
although she didn’t miss a beat, he noticed the change
of smell. He’d heard of a chap down south further
who had a Cletrac diesel Crawler. To get his machine
started, he had to first get his blowlamp going and
spend some time heating up the cylinder head before
cranking it into life. Bob chuckled as he backed into
the plough and hitched it on. He’d checked the plough
last night, greasing it and checking the plough shears.
His day was well under way.
It was a backbone shaking experience without any
suspension and the exhaust wasn’t muffled. Those
tracks clanked relentlessly and there wasn’t much
time to relax. One eye had to be on the plough, one
on the inside track in relation to the plough furrow,
and constantly there were the steep spots to negotiate
and gullies to avoid. Worst of all there were those wet
patches where the springs came up, and the underrunners
which could collapse under the tracks, causing
awful accidents.
Occasionally the drifting beat of the neighbour’s
John Deere offered company throughout the long day,
but he was pleased when he could head back home as
the cold of the evening came down. It was so still and
quiet after the day’s work and the constant noise of the
Cletrac. So different from those days of the horses. It
looked like a frost might settle and help break down
the soil.
Bob glanced back at his machine, deservedly settled
down for the night, and started his trudge back home,
lunch bag over his shoulder. He’s done a good days
work and there was just a tell tale heavy smell of
kerosene trapped in the dropping temperature layers
of the oncoming night.
Harvesting and thrashing time was much different
now the big machines were around. Most of the
farmers cut their own crops with the binders, and left
the stooks in the paddock to dry before building the
sheaf stacks. Then the Thrashing mill came. It was
quite a sight to see, almost like a train with carriages.
The kids ran home from school so as not to miss out
on the action. As many as three or four steel wheeled
huts or ‘whares’ were pulled behind the thrashing mill,
towed behind the coal trailer by the traction engine. A
few now were using large rubber tyred tractors instead.
It was a tough life working on the thrashing mill.
The twelve or so men would work from daylight to
after dark, often moving onto the next farm after a full
days work. It was definitely a ‘tough man’s job’.
45

INDEX and GENEALOGY LIST
A
A. Eady & Co. (Hamilton) 20
afternoon tea 22
Air New Zealand 42
Air Raid Precautions Scheme 11
air raid shelter 11
air raids 11
aircraft fumigation 1, 38
Alec Mclean Band 54
All Saints (Plamerston North) 60
architect (Auckland) 34
Armed Constabulary 25
Arthur's Pass 13
Arthur's Pass Village 16
Auckland 11, 34
Auckland City 48
Auckland City Council 11
Auckland City rifle club 48
aviation 38, 60
B
BACKHOUSE John Philemon 18
BAKER Freda 72
BARLOW Family 22
BATHURST Mr J 20
Bay of Plenty 25
Bealey 13
Bealey Flat 15
BECK Mr G.M. 57
BELL Lt Col R.M. 25
big bands 54
Booth & Chapman Ltd
(Hamilton) 20
BOWLER Alan 22
Ted 22
bowsers 21
BRECKON Arthur 19
Britannia Theatre (Tuatapere) 47
British Exhibition 34
Broken River Viaduct 13
Browns Bay 48
Bush Advocate newspaper 58
bush railway 23
C
campers 15
Canterbury 12
CARRINGTON Claude 54
Carrington Hut 16
Cass 13
CHURCH Abe 56
cinema 47
CLAYTON James 58
Cletrac Crawler 44
COBERGER Oscar 16
COLENSO William 25
COLVIN Lana 32
Commercial Hotel (Te Awamutu) 20
COOKE John 15
Corrections Dept. 52
country dances 54
cross-engines 44
CUTLER John 34
D
DALE Pat 38
dance bands 54
Dannevirke 58
DAVIES Gwyn 47
Ron 47
de Havilland DH Express 60
DEARLOVE Chris 22
Harold 22
dengue epidemic 40
Devonport Steam Ferry Coy 49
DOBSON Edward 14
Harry 54
DSIR 39
Dunedin Town Hall 33
E
East Town Railway workshop 57
EBBETT Robyn 32
Economic Store (Te Aroha) 19
Edendale Crank Up Day 46
Edison phonograph 22
education 67
Education Gazette 67
electric locomotives 14
ELLEBECK Mr C.J. 63
Ellis & Burnand 23
Ellis Chalmers tractor 44
EMERSON Erica 30
emigration 34, 48
entertainment 47
Erebus crash 40
Evaline APW 33
F
Falls Camp 23
Farmal M tractor 44
farming 44
fashion (1906) 37
fire (Kakahi) 50
FITNESS Alan 31
fitter 57
Fordson tractor 44
FORTE Nat 31
FRUMEL (military intelligence) 8
fumigation (aircraft) 1, 38
G
games (knucklebones) 30
garden show 11
GATFIELD Sharon 30
GEFALLEN Spieth 7
Geraldine 47
Geraldine Cinema 47
German war code 7
Gisborne 4
Gisborne Harbour 4
glass plates 63
GODBER Albert 23
gramophone 66
GREEN Allen 31
Greymouth 12
Group Travel 72
H
Hamilton 20
Hamilton Lake
Hart Parr
20
44
Hatea River 63
Hawke's Bay 25
Hawke's Bay Motor Co. 26
Hawke's Bay Prov. Govt 25
Hawke's Bay railway 58
HAYES Collin 32
health (mosquitos) 39
Health Dept. 39
HERDMAN Edna 54
Kevin 54
Leslie 54
Lois
Vern
54
54
HERRMANN Rudolf 7
HILSON Mr W. 26
HOLMES Mr R.A. 57
HOOPER Jack 56
horse bus 34
horsedrawn coach 26
Hutt Valley High School 67
I
Imperial Japanese Navy 9
insecticide 39
J
John Deere tractor 44
John McLean & Sons 14
Jones The Saddler (Ngaruawahia) 18
JUDD Stan 31
Junction Hotel (Norsewood) 59
K
Kaipara Harbour 63
Kaiti Hill 5
Kakahi 50
Kakahi Station 50
Kb 968 locomotive 15
Kb steam locomotives 14
KELLY Lynette 33
Khandallah 67
King Country 54
KLEINPASTE Ruud 40
Knucklebone Championships 31
knucklebones 30
KRETSCHMANN Anton 7
Kumara 37
L
Labour Day Parade (Hamilton) 20
Lake Pukaki 68
LANCASTER Marilyn 32
LARSEN Winston 56
LEGGETT Raymond 32
Liberal Party 37
Little Rangitoto (Auckland) 34
Lower Hutt 67
Lutheron Church 59
LYNE Eliza 35
Lyttelton 48
M
MAC Bob 44
Majestic Hall (Ohakune) 54
Manawatu 50
Manning's Pharmacies (Hamilton) 20
Maori tracks 25
McARTHUR Ainslee 38
McCORMICK George 56
McCormick - Deering tractor 44
McDONALD Barney 56
McLEAN Alex 54
MEECHANG Maurie 45
Midland Line 12
Ministry of Works 52
moa bone site
moa bones
56
56
Mohaka River 25
morning suit (1906) 37
Morrinsville 31
motor machine design 57
motorcar (1902) 61
Mount Roskill 11
Mulberry tree wine 34
MULLOOLY Graham 10
Murchison 68
Murchison police Station 68
musician (Whangarei) 64
N
Napier 25
Napier Harbour 7
National Radio 54
NETHGE Gunter 7
newspaper reporter (Dannevirke) 58
Ngaruawahia 18
Norsewood 59
70

INDEX and GENEALOGY LIST
NZ Broadcasting 33
NZ Land Wars 25
NZ Midland Railway Co. 13
NZ Railways 57
NZ Shipping Co. 48
NZ Union Airways Ltd 60
O
ODLIN Cynthia 72
OGILVIE Christina 32
Ohakune 54
Ohakune telephone exchange 54
Ohura 52
Ohura Prison 52
Okauia 22
Okauia Thermal Springs 22
Oldsmobile (1902) 61
Ongarue 23
Opal Springs 22
Opawa 32
Opunake 67
Orakei Point (Auckland) 34
orchard (Remuera) 34
Ormondville 58
Ormondville viaduct 58
Otago Cricket Assn. 32
Otago Knucklebones 32
Otematata
Otira
67
14
Otira Tunnel 14
Ovoca House (Remuera) 35
Oxford Buildings (Tirau) 21
P
paddle steamer 18
pakhorse train 25
Palm Lounge (Whanganui) 54
Palmerston North 60
Paparoa 63
PARANIHI Mrs 54
Sonny 54
Parnell 34
PEITL Fritz 7
photography 62
PICKMERE Allan 64
pigeon post 26
PIPER Margaret 32
police station (Murchison) `68
POLLARD Dick 35
Port Chalmers 48
postcards 62
Poverty Bay 4
projectionist 47
Public Works Dept. 14
pyrethrum 40
Q
Qantas 43
'Queen Street Greyhound' 61
Queen Victoria 34
quinces 34
R
R.E. Bell draper's (Ngaruawahia) 18
RADCLIFFE Frederick George 62
Harriette 63
Kate 63
Olive 63
radio quiz 33
Raetihi 54
railway construction 12
Railway Hotel (Taumarunui) 53
railway invention 57
railway line 12
Rangataua Hall 54
Rangitaiki Hotel 26
Rangitira 66
REIFFENSTUHL Gunter 7
Remuera 34
REYNOLDS Hermione 72
Robert 72
RING James 37
roading 25
ROBERTSON Mrs 50
RODGER Joan 47
Rotorua 48
S
saxophone 54
Scandinavian settlers 59
SCANNEL Charlie 68
Scarboro & Sons 34
SCARBOROUGH Ann 35
Eliza 34
Ernest 35
George 35
May 35
Rebecca 35
Rueben 34
Sam 35
Sarah 35
Thomas 35
William 35
scenic photographer 62
SCHAEFER Dr Jobst 7
SCHIRRMANN Albert 7
SCHISCHKA Freda 72
Hermione 72
SEDDON Louisa 37
Richard John 37
SEGGERMANN Hugo 7
Seventy Mile Bush 58
sheep dipping 21
SHEPHERD George 56
William Henry 56
SHERRIFF Lyn 47
shipping Greyhound 61
IJN Submarine I-50 9
M.V. Cumberland 48
Oswestry Grange 37
Peter Silvester 9
Pukeko 8
Robert Walker 8
Silver Eagle 34
SS Ceramic 67
U-boat 862 4
SHONE Gerald 6
John 6
Kathleen 6
SHUGAR Mr 58
Singer Sewing Machine Co 60
skiing 16
Southern Alps 12
Southland 44, 47
SPINDLER Walter 7
SPRACKETT Rev C.R. 32
spraying (aircraft) 1, 38
Springfield 14
SPROULE Yvonne 33
St Martins Presbyterian 32
Staircase Viaduct 13
STEINHAUSER Kurt 7
STENT Eric 56
stereoscope 19
stereoscopic photo 63
STRETTON Harry 50
Stretton House 50
submarine (German) 4
SUBRITZKY Capt Basil 61
Capt Johannes 61
SUBRITZKY Des 61
Issac 61
Mike 61
SULLIVAN Jim 54
T
T.W. Smith draper 53
Taranaki 69
Tasman Glacier 72
Taumarunui 52
Taupo Road 25
Taupo-Napier Road 25
Te Aroha 19
Te Aroha Domain 19
Te Awamutu 20
Te Pohue 26
Te Pohue Hotel 26
Te Poi 22
teaching 67
The Grand (Palmerston North) 60
THORNE Norm 48
Timaru 48
TIMM Commander Heinrich 5
Tirau 21
TOOGOOD Selwyn 33
top hats 37
tourism 72
traction engine 46
traffic accident (1904) 61
Trans-Alpine Express 15
transient labour 15
travel (flights) 38
treatment plants 52
Trentham 52
Tuatapere 47
tunnelling crews 14
U
U-boat 862 4
Uncle Scrim 22
Uncle Tom's Choir 22
Union Bridge 18
Upokongaro 56
Upper Hutt 32
V
W
WADE Henry 34
WAGSTAFF George 56
Waikaka 44
Waikato 18
Waikato River 18
Waimakariri Gorge 13
Wairua Falls 64
war intelligence 7
WEST Tom 67
WEST Valerie 67
West Coast 12
Whanganui 50
Whanganui East 57
Whanganui Museum 56
Whanganui River 66
Whangarei 63
WHO 39
wireless (radio) 22
World War Two 4
WYNYARD Mr 52
X
Y
Z
Each issue of New Zealand
Memories contains an index
and, in keeping with genealogy
ideals, all surnames of
individuals are listed in capitals.
71

EDITOR’S CHOICE
Tasman Glacier
A ‘Group Travel’ tour party visits Tasman Glacier on
9 March 1957; photographed with a Box Brownie
camera. From left: Robert Reynolds, Hermione
Reynolds (nee Schischka), Cynthia Odlin, Freda
Baker (nee Schischka) and the remainder were
mainly tourists from the USA.
Courtesy: R. Reynolds
72