On the radio this morning I heard that today was the 40th anniversary of the Wahine disaster. Are there any special commemorations planned?
I remember seeing the rather harrowing pictures of the sinking in the museum in Wellington. And the harbourside memorial is pretty moving too.
There are various events going on in Wellington. There’ve been documentaries and articles all over the place for the last few weeks. This is the biggest commemoration I remember, usually the anniversary is just given a quick mention during the news. Many of the survivors and helpers are coming forward and telling their stories - some for the first time.
They went into the water just a few hundred metres from the beach at Seatoun, where there were thousands of people willing and desperate to help. Most got blown clear across the harbour. 53 died.
I was almost three when it happened - I don’t remember anything, although mum took my brother and I to watch as it was happening. We were at Seatoun with blankets, but there was nothing we could do. When we got back to the house, one of the lounge windows was missing, curtains and all.
A fireman ran into the house and nailed up a wooden board over the window and ran out again without saying a word. Mum reckoned that was the second most surreal thing about the whole Wahine storm. The most surreal being when my brother, two years later and in a different house in a different suburb, found our old window frame, with the curtains still attached!
Wow maggenpye. That’s fascinating. And yes, Seatoun. I remember now that that’s the suburb where the memorial is. When I first moved to Wellington I was taken there on a ‘city tour’ by some friends. I still remember one of them bursting into tears when we got to the memorial.
I’ve been looking at the Dominion online and reading some of the articles. Powerful stuff.
Here is a news broadcast from the day after. How very sad.